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Show 476 Ex. Doc. No. 41. numuc!l with the rold, but a cheerful f1re soon restored the genial < • i rc ul a t i o n o f t h ' b l '' o d · . k \V e s 0 0 n started , a n d , before pro c e clw g . far., o v .crt o o t h c waoon ·; the) had not been able to rcaeh the drvr.drn.g nclgc,on acc: o1~1t of the (Xhau ·trd ::-.tatt... of th oxen .. As ~Ius nd,g wa but 5 ·1 [ t ll e "J> u t• r· 1r11 rs rom c· 0 , " w c ·s oon at t a 1n d 1t , and . once m or c ('aught sight of th • Rio tld Norte·, an<l the grand chatn of moun-t a i n s 0 n the ht 1• the r s i d e o [ t h e n v e r. Far <~way to l h c sou~ h, :V e saw this magnifr~·nt stream '":ind~ng along, 1ts ap1~a renl c~n tt~utty broken by its m<·auders and Its Islands, so that 1t look d hke a chain of silver lake(). 0 11 the r i d g e, we co ll • c ~ <' <1 en o .u g ~l woo< 1 to 1 as l a coup 1 c o ~ cl a y s, for no wood is to 1e obtatned wtthrn less than 9 or 10. mtles of Albuquerque, where we slwuld stay n. coupl of clays, as I1. was ab~ olutc ly ncressary that our lflul<:s h~uld have ome. rest. W had tra ellul at the average r,\tc of 15 mtl es a day; thncc we hacl ~een without a drop of water after a long day's journey, as at Moqurno, at Rito r~nd at the Rio Vucrco. Althongh some of the road was c t'elJc:lt, such as from Cibolleta to Laguna, yet, for the g~·eater lJortion of our route we had tr ~nc llcd through deep sands, wtlhout a road ; t h r o ugh r u d ' w i I tl ~, with out any g u .u I <.' • • ·we entered th • alley of the Rio del Norte, we met Ma.Jor Edmonc:;on; with his command, on their way for the NavaJoe C( untry. .Mo tall of his teams hatl brok 'n down, and he w~s ohhged to stop at th "Rancho tle Atrisco," in order to recrmt th(•tn. We hearcl, to-day, some rumors of General T:tylor's uattle al Monter .y. Tl,cse rumors came up by th w~y of Cluhuahua. ~hey sta.tl' the loss of the Amet icans at 300, while that of the Mexicans was 1,200. As the report ~amc through Mexicans, we judgt•d the re . ult must be even more favorable to our arms than these rumors. represented. . . OctobeT 26.-This morning we received notices of an mcurslO.n of the Navnjoes, a few miles b elow us. The pastores left their flo cks and fled, while a large body of Indians, rushing do~n from tlte mountains, whe:rc they had secreted themselves dunng ~he ni ght, devastated the whole vall ey, killing all the human . kmd they met, and sw •eping off the flo cks and herds of the Mex1 ca ns. No le s !than 5,000 sh •cp were carriell off within 20 miles of the gr<'at city of Albuquen1uc. In the afternoon, w went to pay our respects to the padre; he re ct· i v c:cl us mo. t kin til y, although sea ted a l the din ncr table. He in~isletl upon our t•nt •ring, and tb en introduced us to his friend.s as tbe matheioa.ticians and astronomers. I am under great obligations to him for changing ~orne gold for me. Mexicans in general do not like to re ceive anything but "plata blanca." We heard this eveniug that the American traders were cut off from all inter course with .._ anta Fe, by a body of Mexicans who had come up from "El Passo." Captain Burgwin and Captain Grier mar~..,hed down this morning, in order to assist the traders. OctobeT 27.-We did not get off this morning until 10 o'clock. , / Ex. Doc. No. 41. 477 One day's rest always causes such a break in the regular chain of previous habits as is difficult to rrpair. When we crossed the Hio del Norte, I met Lieutenant Noble, of the 2cl dragoon s; he confirm d the r port that Captain Burgwin and Captain Grier had gone down the river to assist th ) .American traciers, who were threat<•ned with an alta ·k by a body of J\l•xicans from El Passo. We also heard that Mr. James MeG oHin had he en captur d, and taken as a prisoner to Ch i h~ahua. Continuing our journey down the cast ~'de of th Rio del Norte, we soon arrived opposite the town of "Pajarito." Here the little "Rio San An ton io," which takes its name from tt:c town ncar its so urce, yields up its waters to 1he grarHl riv<•r of Mexi co . As 1 attempted to cross the "RlO Snn Antonio" my mule sank in a treach erous quicksand so uclclcnly that I could not throw myself out of the saddle b fore she was half cov r d. I managed to snamblc to the bank, from wncnce I started, wl11l the mu ll', relieved of my weight, struggled to the oppusite side of the trram, which she reached in safety. After a march of 11 miles, without seeing n. singl town on the east side of the river, we r crossed the Hio del Norte, and encamped at "Padi1las." This town is ncar the foot of a hi gh mound, and is wholly Mexican. While travelling about New M •xi co I t r i d s c v c r a I t i m s t o gain in f o r m at ion wit h n• f c r c n c e to t h c population of the towns, the number· of the flocks and hrrds owned by the inhabitants. l have asked how much corn and how much wheat the land yirlds to the" fcnrgada," but never obtainrtl other than the reply of" quien ::.nbc." 1 would th erefo re have be n obliged to content n yself with rude approximations as to the number of inh ab itauts, had I not fortunately been enabled to get hold of n. document from the State department at anta F'c, which, coming in an officia l form, is lik •ly to pres ·nt a cor r •ct statement. It is so intimately co nnected with my report that 1 wil l at once in. trotluce it. .Extract from tlte 1·eco1·ds in tlu, State Depa1·tment at Santa Pc. [Tmnslation.] Mariano Martinez de Lejanza, brevet brigaclicr general and vonstitu. tional governor of the department of New Mexico, to i ts inhabitants sends g rcetin ~, that the assembly of the d •partmct has agtccd to de rce the followin~: The assem1ly of the department of New Mexico, in diseharging the powers which are CO ll CCd(•d by the ]34th article of the organic law ofthe republic, decrees the following: Division of t/~;e department. AnT. l. The llcpartment of New Me .. ico, c?nformably . to. the 4th article of the co nstitution i~ h<•reby dtvidcd lllto three d1~tncts, which shall be called the C~ntral, the North, and the Southeast. |
