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Show • • • { 23] 54 bon•as;'') larg~ floc~s of .them are found fee,~ in~ on t~; bed of the- ·u Rio St. .Juan," whtch riVt'f runs close by Lagun~. The Indians here have nun1bers of turkt-ys and cluckens. T also -saw some tame macaws, that musr have come Jar from the ~outh, The "Put-bios" have a grtat fancy for taming b:rds, anrl in this respert resemble the anci t-nt Aztecns. ~ut they have · Io~t the art of making the beautiful ft'ather embroidery, spoken of by Cia-. vigero, De Solis, and others. October 21.-Having risen early, and hade adieu to our friends, we set out in a southwestern direction for the town of "Acoma." We were very glad to get away from Laguna, for being t'neamped · near the town, we were surrounded by crowds of children, who, • 1mpe)led hy curiosity, flooded t11e camp. 'l'hey did not attempt to steal anything, but they impeded the men in the performance of tbeir :dutit's. ' For the first six or seven miles, until we reached some corn· fields, we had a broad road befo.re us. The rest of the route was mat ked by sheep paths. vVhen near "Acoma," we met some· Mexicans; with l)everal "burros," laden With pea c he~, water melIons, and drit>d ·fruit, which they y;er'e conveying to Colonel Jark. son's command at "Covero·." They had purchased the fruit of the Pueblos of Acoma, for a mere trifle, and sold the peaches to us for a real the dozen. We noticed to-day a variety of a yucca, whose leaves are convex on the unclcr side, and concave on the upp~r, and mueh broader than the leaves of the Y. angustifolia. On the cedar trees we found a species of mistletoe; it was leafless, aud had pink berries that tasted like cedar berries. ' . We travelled through a level valley, in which we saw many flocks ,of sheE'p grazing-, attendeu by Inrlian pastores and their ~ver watchful dogs. I tried to purchase some sheep from the people, who were guard~ng them, but I could n• t induce them to rua~e any bargain .until ' a chief, attended by some eight or ten Indtans, rode up. He appeared to be a wealthy man, and we soon agreed :.~bout the purchase. He said that his party were going to Santa Fe; they were armefl . with bow~ and arrows, and guns. The.y remindtd me very mu ch of the Comanchees, except that thes~ lnrhans wear Ion g ~yoo II t-n stoeki n gs, of t h ti r own manu f~ ctu re. We \\ere.now qutte close to 'OUr goal the ultima thul~ of our advance towards ''~I so] ·ponierito(·." On ~~ur right hanrl, stretching a~ay to tl1e south, IS a magnificient "sierra," that raises its sum· mits several 'thou~anrl ~ett, wh~re they mingle with the clouds. ~rom the '·aile~ 1n. which we. JOur·uey huge blocks of sandstone. nse, th~. top~ of w.htch are honzontal, and the sides of wh'ich rt:•cJCh perpendicularly to the l1~ight of 31JO or 400 feet above the plllin. Thts sandston~ is very b?.rd, it breaks in long prism~ whose llnglt'S see~e.rl to. restst the rounrling influence of the weath~r. This ro(..k €Xhtbtts tu~ts of yel1ow anrl of light red. 4~ter a JOurney of 15 miles we arrived at "Acoma." · High•on ~ .Jolty ro;~k of sandstone, such as I ha•e described, sits the city of Acoma. On the northern ~ide of the rock, the rude boreal ' I • I 55 [ 23] I blasts have heaped up the sand, so as to form a practical ascent fo ,r snwe distance; the rt~st of the way is through. solid roek. At one p,lace a singular .o~;ening, or narrow way, Is formed betWt> E'n a huge square tow"'r of rock and the perpt'ndicular face of the cliff. Then the road winds round like a ~piral stair way, and tht> Inchans have, in some way, fixe,( logs of wood in the rock, radiating from a vutical axis, like steps: these afford foothold to man and beast in c) am beriug up. We wPre constantly mE>eting ancl passin-g Inrlians, who had their "burros" laden with peaches. At last we reached the top of the rock, which was nearly level, and contains about 60 acre~. Here .we saw a ]arg·e church, and sevt-ra1 continuous blot'ks of buildings, 1 contiiining 60 or 70 houses in each block, (the wall at the side tl1at faceJ Ol,ltwards was unbrokt>;n, and had no windows until nt>ar the top: the hoascs Wt>re three stories high). In front each story ret rea t e d bat k a s i t a s c t' n d e rl , so a s t o I e a v e a p J at fv r m a I o n g t b e whole front of the story: these plat :orms are guapJed by parCipet walls a~out three .feet high. In order t•1 gain admittanct>, ) ou. as~enrl to the second story by means of ]add~r~; the next sto'ty is ga~n.e~l by the same mt'an~, but to reach the "azotia," or roof, the partttlon walls on tbe platform that separatt>s the quarters of different •fami.lies, have been formed into steps. This makes quit~ a narrow stair·case, as the walls are not :nore than one foot in wirlth. Lteutenant P~ck and myself ascenrled to the azoteas, and :saw there great quant.ities of peaches, that had betn cut in half and spread out to dry 1n the. sun. . ' · We entered some of the houses, and the people received us with great gladne~s. They brought out circular baskets, nearly flat, these w e r e. fi II t.el w it h a k m d o f co r n b rea d , o r · " g u a y a v e . " I t bears a stnk1ng resemblance to a hornet's nest; it is of the same color, and Is a~ thin a~ a wafer. .The "guayave" thE'y crumbled up between their fingers, anr! put into a se~ond basket, from which we ate. Each family oecupies those rooms that are situated vertical~ y over each other; the lowest story is used as a store room, in ~hiCh they ~ut t~eir corn, pumpkins, mtlons, and other e?-tables. be fronts ot their houses are covered with ft>stoons of bri,rht red pep~ers, and string~ of pumpkins and mu~k melons, that ha~e been CUt Into ropes, and twisted into bunches to tl·ry for winter use. ~hese people appeared to be well provided with all the necessanes and luxuries that Nt-w Mexieo affoids. They are quiet, and set-m to be happy and gt>nerous. As we walked through the town, ~~ saw them unloadiug their '(burro~." Quantitits of fine large J:~gstone peathes were spread out on the ~:rround, as the owr.ers wer d' · 1· ~ he. lVH Ing the loads, so as to carry them up the ladders. And w .ene,,·er we approacht!d, they would cry out to us, "comat co. m· a-'''' eat.1 t!at!, ' and pom· t to the peaches. They generally• ~:~k t~e Nav_ajoe blan.ket, marked with broad s!ripes, alternately b and whtte. Thetr pantaloons are very wule ancl bag-like t ut areb confin~d at the knee by long woollen stockings, and some~ 1trnes uc~ksktn lt·ggins and moccasins. The womt>n stuff tueir egg 1 1 ns With wool, which makes their ancles look hke the legs of an t ephant. • |
