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Show [ 23] 46 wade across. Th e n·v er ru ns with great rapidity, and is from thre. e to four feet deep. surrounded by Indians. They brough! us Our camp was soon d pkins Their women have a cunous mu~k melons, corn,, anl P'?m s with wool or cotton. This makes habit of stuffi1ng ,.theu leggmg We saw large flocks of geese and their ancles OOK. very arge. . blue cranes; also;~i~e~~;~ing we started up the river for the . Oc~ober f l~~nto Domingo. After .a short march we reache~ v"Ctlloabgee roo , an d were m o~"t hospitably received byh Senohr ID on 1J ose MonteJ·O ' w h o seems to be the proprietor of . t .e wd o e hp a.c e. · h h h rl finished his breakfast, yet he ms1ste on avmg Althoug e a d f s He gave us " los en tranos de carnero" a.noth~r pr~~areed ~r. uaiso an abundance of " tortillas" and mi~k :~~t t~i: ~ee~p salt!d and boiled. The milk i_s prepared thus ~n d · to keep it during warm weather from turmng sour. On_e b1g ;~b1:t of water was set in the middle of the table. From this we were all to drink. h d' d t l'k 1 tried to bargain with ou~ host f~r a mule, but e, 1 no 1 e t 0 take gold in payment, saymg "Deme plata blanca. We now sP.t out for Santo Domingo,_ passing throu~h unfenced fields of corn and musk melons; we a gam crossed ~he _nver and entered the Pueblo. The ho.uses of this town are bmlt m blocks two stories high. The upper story is narrower than_ the one below, so that there is a platform or landing along the whole len&th of the building. To en1er, you ascend to this platform by t~e means of ladders that could be easily removed, anrl, as there IS a parapet wall extending along this platform, these houses could be_ converted into formidable forts. The front of the upper story IS covered with strin5s of r.ed peppers and long spiral curls of dried melons and pumpkins. We visited the chapel, and here saw a large wax figure of Santo Domin go. The walls around were covered with oil paintin~s, _ some of them the work of excellent artists. Here, too, was a pamtmg of St. Jago, with a long_inscription b~neath .. We noti ced on the pannels of the do'ors smgular armona] beanngs: one the _cross of Santo Domingo, surmounted by a crown; the other a plam cross standing on a globe, two human arms, arid these also surmounted by a crown. The Indians who went with us led u3 through what they called the old chapel. These people, as well as those of St. Philippe, are called Keres or Queres. . Returning, we stopped at Senor Montejos, who gave us ?ne dmner. As his son came in while we were there, I went to h1m, andf showing my gold, persuaded him to sell me the mule. Some o ' the pieces were marked 5 D., and others five dollars. The fi:st h,~ consented to receive, after I had told him the 5 stood for "cinco and that D. was for dollars-the American for "pesos." The other he seemed to suspect, for he would not take one of them. Fortu-nately I had enough that were markerl 5 D. , Old Montejo offered to sell me a Navajo squaw, who happened to pass as we were bargaining for the mule; and he then related a • 47 [ 2~] 1on story about the de~redations co~mitted by the Navajoes; th?t ib g kept all New Mexico poor, whilsr they themselves rolled In weea~ th·, "son muy ricos, tienen muchosh caballos, muGhos carneras, 1 , ·m.uchos bucyos, muchos! muchos _! muc os_. . . ~ October 12.-The view from this plaee, IS ~arhcularly beautiful; ~~ the farther side of the Rio ~el Norte,_ a lngh " ·me~a'.' or ta.ble 'land, stretches down the river; JU~t opposite _our cat:?P It 1s 300 f~et :1: n height and at the very leclge nses an anc1ent rum, that from Its singular p' os~tion, ex.~ites the specu )at'w ns _o fht e. cun.o u~. , . This is qUite a fertile valley, but there IS so httle ~fIt, and this 11 1"ttle the people cannot enJ'oy, for fear of the Navajoes, who de- 51 cend from the mountains, and sweep away t he " ca bal c."d as" of ht e Jlueblos and Mexicans, who look on unresistingly. As we de~ cended the river, we noticed that the lower strata of the rocks resembled the saliferous formations on the Rio Canadian. We passed through "Algodones," an~l a mile be_low, ~hrough H Angosturas" and after passing over a distance of eight miles, we reached the ~outh o: the'' Rio Jemez." Here we got entangled amongst the "acequias," wh~ch were then full of water; but some in, dians kindly extricated us. W e V.I S.J te d ." R aneh 'I to, " an d saw -great piles of corn, the best we had yet noticed;_ then we. cross~d the Rio del Norte and ascended the Jemez, passmg a cunous pd- 1ar of volcanic r~ck, that rises (rom beds of distinctly stratified -clay. These strata are curved, and in many places the volcanic rock has insinuated itself between the layers. • The Jemez v'alley is very sandy; the bed of the stream three- quarters of a mile in width, contains, in many places, no wat_er, and when it is found it is of a dark red color. After marchmg ·five miles up the Je~ez, we reached the Puebl? of'.' St. An_a." 'Th~ village was almost enterely deserted, all the Inhabttants being engaged ·at Ranch ito, gathering their corn. We had much trouble to get wood for our fires and fodder for our mules; there was no grass to be seen any where in the vicinity. . . October 13.-This morning we did not start until qutte late, as it required some time to obtain the bearings of the s~veral towns around. Lieutenant Peck deserves the greatest credit for the as~ siduity he manifested in the performance of his dutie~; to-day he ·~lambered up to the high "Mesa," that raised it~ top 300 _feet ·above us, and fixed the positions of Jemez, San Isadore, and Sdla. H~ was accompanied by a Spanish school mast_er, who teaches t_he ·children of the Inrlians in St. Ana. The domme gave us much Information with regard the country; he said that ther~ were some gold mines at the head of the Rio Jemez, and told us that the In~ ians have much ground under cultivation on the !ops of. these " mesas." · To be sure these " mesas" are covered wtth coatmg of yo~canic ~ock that forms a good soil, but at such a h_eigbt, where it Is _Imp?sstble to irrigate, and in t,his c?unt~y where It scarcely ever rams, It seems doubtful that mueh vegetation ·should be produced. At length we started to retrace our steps, and gain the Rio del Norte. We soon crossed the river, which was full of wild geese, and passing through " Ranchito," we marched four miles be.vond that place when we arrived at "Bernalillo.'' |