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Show 506 Ex. Doc. No. 41 . an<l that MaJor Gilpin hacl nlreacly arrived within a few miles o1 us. There \\as a Is<> a rumor that Genera 1 Woo I wou 1 d march to Chihuahua, but that he ha 1 gor.c by the way of Mont.:lo~a. Drccmbrr 10. -This morning I went up to "Par~da,'~ 1n onler to purchase pro,visions. The river was full of lloattng ICe, clnd for some distance from the shore it was yet unbrold'tl. W c were obl igt•cl to get I ogs and lJrcak a road for the wagons, ~n cl cv~u then it was w it h con~ i d c r a iJ I<' d i fii cuI t y t h a l w c s u c c c c d e d lll ll r g 1 n g t h c mules into the: river. When W(' arrived at the opposite shon·, we found Major Uilpin and his command. The m£•n were without tent~, and c:onstant exposure to the colll and snow, on the high sierras of the Navajocs couutry, llavc givcH them a pretty ragged looking· < xtnior. A ftcr we had proceeded five miles, we met Colonel Douiph<ln nne) his staff. He :-;nid that he ljhoul<l mareh for Chihuahua, <lH soon <ls the artillery should arrive from ~anta Fe. \Ve recrossed tht> river at S,tn Pt•dro, aud at dark rca~}u·d "Par ida," whl'r<' wt• ~toppc·d at the houst' of the alcaldt, Don Miguel Baca. He asked ll1<' lf "El Sc·fiol' Don St. .Jag-o Polk, 'lO cstu el Presidc•nt.c cl <' 7l u, c.~ t 1· a r<• p u J d i <. a. " I fo un d out that he c on~ i d r. r c d } 1 i m s e If a citizen of the lluit<·cl States. lJ e c c m b rr l 1 . rl; v c..r y t h ; n g has J us l do u b 1 e d in v a I u c, b l' <' v c s are now worth ~)20 a lrc•ad, and corn $6 the fancga. Dcccntb(•r 12. -The kinclrJPss of tht>se pC'oplc was rc·m,lrkablc; they gan~ us numerous prc~ents of "ponche," or touacco, and "chili colorado." At 9 o'cloC'k we started, after having embraced the whole housd10l!l. We were struck with their politeness; they always unco\ercd their heads when offc1ing a light .for our " c i g a. r i l o ; " and , w h L' n t h c y m a d e a n y m o v c m c n t , p r c fixe d it with " eon su li<'l'tl<'<'ll lll'iior." Wh<•u an old patriarch of the village Denatcear.e d, they all ro:-;c and uneovt red their heads; he, loo, was a About dark we n·aehcd our cnmp at Valverde, wht•IJ [ rc('civccl several letters; and arnong~t them an order from th(' adjutant grncral, directing me to repair immediately to Washington city. I had a I ready two orcl ero to I he sa""' elf cct, ou c from (len <:ra I I <·arn y, and th<·oth<·r from Colonel Donip!)an; and, as it was not l~nown which w1 ay Co. lon'e l Doniphan would proeccd aft(•r rc,lchincbr Chihuahua, I < ctt•rm~ncu to return ab once to Santa (l~6, and thcllcP proeccd to the Untt<•d Lrtcs, wl11ch was the only route open to m<. Many of my fnends r<preoented the unclcrtaktng as almos~ impossible, but there was one trader who ha•l crossed the prairies in the winter; ancl1 as Ito ha•l clone tl, I dtcl not sec why it might not be done aga1n; mort·ovcr, my orders to return hac! to be obey<' II. Derrrnbc·r 13.-1 obtained five bc•autiful Rpecimcns of the "ortjx squamosa;" ns the arsenic that we had obtained in St. Louis had cboerenn mtaeka<l!.n to California, I was obligt>d to fill the skins with • Tn tire afternoon we saw Captain Walton's picket guard retu rnIng; tt had h<·<·n reltcvcd by Major Gilpin who was now at Fray Cnotobal, from which place he would proc~cd to San Juan, as soon • ( |