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Show , [ 23] 16 fu ·1 b 11 of the Indians. Wood is too scarce, and of suth a th·e d aSsl is a nos t suited ·•f or bU·i ld·i ng, w h 1'l e t h e ." a d o b es " . a~swer ktn e so well that they were used by L1euten.ant Gilmer, t"verh purp~~eer corps at Santa Fe, in the coJJstructiOn of Fort Mofa rtc ye. enigwas told th~t the "adobes" could be 'bought i.n Mexico for eighteen cents the hundred. · P'lk ith some of the men of the fort, went down to the mouI th ao,f wth e Purgatory, or " ~a~ Am .m as, " . to ge t th e .m u I es, pre· pa1.a t ory to starting for Santa Fe· m the ml o· rmng. dT hey found them in a fine pasturing ground, lookmg muc 1 Improve . . Mr. Bent's people were cutting hay; they find that the wild grass of the bottoms, when well cured, m~kes exce_llent ha:r. . Captain Wallfer came rlown the nver, havmg received mforma- . f the approach of a large body of volunteers. He had srme !~~~y0head of mules, and will, doubtless, .dispose of them to the volunteers with gre~t advantage, both to himself and to .the troops, as their horses are completely broken down by the march across the desert. . . In the morning Bill Garey ~rnved here. ljle was the Interpreter last year at the council helrl m August a~ th1s pla~e, by a deputa· tion of Delawares and t~e C~eyenne 11:a~I~n. He 1s now engaged in trading with the Indians m the VICinity of Peublo, o: Hard· scrabble. ' Before dark Mr. M. St. Vrain told us that he had concluded ~o 0 to Santa Fe. We were all delighted when he announced h1s fntention as he will doubtless be able to procure us some fresh meat on 'the march, being a good huntsman, and our road leads through a region that abounds with the deer, the antelope, and the turkey. We are in hopes, too, that we shall be just in time for the wild fruits, as the plum, the grape, and. the currant ab_?un~, and three varieties of the currant are found m great profusiOn m the mountain passes. We knew the country to be full of game; .we pictured to ourselves the streams of pure cold water, over wh1ch the plum trees waved their golden drupes, while the vine twined , around the cottonwood or graceful locust tree, or clambered up the mountain sides, laden with rich clusters of the purple grape, and the rocks embroidered with the currant bush, laden with its trans· parent wax-like berries. Wednesday, September 9.-W e now commenced, in good earn~st, to prepare for our journey, and the morning was spent in packing up. I had the coffee all prepared, and enough bread baked to last several days, for I wished to have our time unencumbered for the few first days, until my party, consisting of myself, Mr. Nourse, and Pilkr;t, should get our dutie~ a little systematized. . At 3 o'clock we forded the Arkansas, just as several compames of Colonel Price's regiment were forming their camp. As we I.eft, there was a slight shower of rain, and the sky' looked threatemng, but we were. all too glad to get once more in our saddles to be turned back by a shower of rain. Several times we thotrght.of forming camp, in order to prepare for a storm, for the clouds, w1th black and lowering aspect, w~re rushing towards us, and extended 17 [ 23] around the horizon. They, however, divided and passed along the ridges on each side of the river v.al~e.y; ~s the glorious light of ~he setting sun shone between the div1s1on 1t contrasted strongly with the black clouds on our right . and left. The day had been warw, now cool gusts of wind came puffing a Ion g the valley, bearing the refreshing scent of new fallen rain. Several hawks, whose outlines cut sharp against the dark clouds, were sporting in the air, sometimes with rapid beating wings contending against the wind, and then, ceasing a1l efforts, suddenly swept along . Notwithstanding the risk of a drenching, we continued our march to the mouth of the ''Rio Timpa," nearly eight miles west of Bent's, when we encamped on the banks of the Arkansas. Before dark several wagons belonging to Lieutenant Simpson, Missouri volunteers, and Mr. St. Vrain, came up with us. We enjoyed our suppers as if we had that day taken a long journey. The very idea of once more getting on the prairie produced a pleasurable excitement that extended its influence to our dormant appetites, for want of exercise and confinement to the fort had not agreed with any of us. At night we had a serenade from a full choir of prairie wolves · they collected around our camp in great numbers, and broke forth in sudden bursts of t.heir inimitable music. There are times when the wolf's how I sounds pleasantly, and again there are times when the spirits of rlesolation seemed to be conjured up by it. September 10.-This morning I got several species of willow, amongst which was the long leafed willow, (salix angustifolia;) also two varieties of cotton wood, (P. canadensis, and P. monolifera;) the former is often used in winter to feed horses and mules, and they seem to relish it greatly; of the latter they are not fond. We tried to start early, but two of our mulfcS gave us a long chase before we could catch them. At length. we started up the Timp~. On either side, the prairie was covered with a dense grow-th of arlemisia, under which the timid hare sought shelter; ever and anon the agile antelope, in droves of twenty 'Dr thirty, would dash across the road and speed a way, until getting the wind of us, they would suddenly stop, and, wheeling rapidly, dash off in another direction with renewed velocity. We soon came in sight of "Las Cumbres Esp.aiiolas," or the Spa..nish peaks, their twinned s~mmits towering above the clouds that drifted midway ul' their Sides. Our route bore direct for the peaks. T~e road was very dusty'· and the wind consta?tly annoyed us, heavmg up great clouds of dust and sand, and dashmg them into our faces. The country around us was extremely sterile. Its sandy bosom covere ' with cacti, amongst which were the cereus cespitosa, and cac tu opuntia, and here and there, clustered in groups the bristling bayonet leaves of the yucca angustifolia, and unde; our feet hundre ds of horned frogs (agama cornuta) were crawling abo,It without heeding our proximity. We marched twenty miles, and encamped about one mile beyond th.e point at which the army had turned off from the' road. The T1mpa at this place is three-fourths of a mile from the. road and 2 ' ' |