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Show \ [ 23] 60 numbed with the told, but a chee.rful fire soon restored the genial circulation of the bluod. . . k We soon started, and, before proceedmg. ~a~, ov_ertoo the wagon ; they had not been able to reach the d•v•.chn.g r.dge, on accouRt of the t>xhausted state of the oxen.. ~s ~hts nddge W:ls but 5 miles from the "Puerco," we soon atta1neu It, an . onee more cau17ht sight of the Rio del Norte, and the grand cham of moun. tain~ on the tnrther side of the nver. Far ~way to the sou~h, :ve saw this magnificent stream "':ind~ng along, 1ts ap~arent contt?utty broken by its meanders and Its 'Islands, so that 1t looked hke a chain of "silver lakes. . On the ridge, we collec!ed eno.ug? wood to last a couple o~ days, for no wood is to be obtained w1thm Jess than 9 or 10. miles of Alb~querque, where we shoultl sta'y a couple of rlays, as 1t was absoJ. utely necessuy that our Jnules sh~uld have some. res.t. We had trClvelled at the average rate of 15 mdes ,a ~ay; thrtce we had ~een without a drop of water after a long days JOUrney, as at Moqumo, at Rito, and at the Rio Puerco. ~lthough some of the road was exce ent, such as from Cibolleta to Laguna, yet, for the g~eater portion of our route, we h!id travelled thro~gh deep sands,.wtthout, .a road; through rude wilds, without any guide. . 1 As we entered the valley of the Rio del Norte, we me~ Ma\JOf Edmonson, with his command, on their way for the NavaJoe ' ·~ountry. Most all of his teams had h.roken ~own, and e w~s obliged to stop at the "Rancho de Atnsco," m order to recru1t them. We heard, to-day, some rumors of General Tlylor's batt1e at • Monterey. These rumors came up by the way of Chthuahua. !hey state the loss of the Americans at 300, while tbat of the Mexwms was 1,200. As the report came tbrough Mexicans, we judged the result must be even more favorable to our arms than these rumors represented. . . October 26.-This morning we rece~ved notices of an. mcursto.n 1 ·of the Navajoes, a few milts below us. The p<~stores left their ffocks and fieri while a large body of Indians, rushing down from the mountains, . w.hE:re they had secreted themselvt-s Juring ~be night, devastated the whole valley, killing all the human. ktnd they met, and sweeping off the flocks and herds of the MexiCans. No less than 5,000 sheep were carried off· within 20 miles of the great city of ,Afbuquerq u..e. · In. the afternoon, we went to pay our respects to the padre·; he !eC~Ived us most kindly, although seated at the dinner table. He lnstst~d upon our entering, ar•d then introduced us to his friencl.sas t~e mathtmaticians ·and astronomers. I am under gre~t obhga· ttons to.him for changing some gold for me. Mexicans in general .do not hke to receive anything but ''plata blancta." . We heard this evening that the American traders were cut otT from all intercourse with Santa Fe, by a body of Mexicar.•s w~o 11 a~ come up from "El Passo." Captain Burgwin aud Captatn Gner marched down this morning, in order to assist the traders. October 27.-We did not get otf this morning until 10 o'clock. ~ • I •• 61 [ 23 J One d y's re~t alw~ys .causes such a .break in the regular chain of previous hab1ts as <~s difficult to repair. Whe.n we crosserl th•e Rio del Norte, I met Lieutenant Noble, of tbP 2rl dragoons; he confirmed the reports that. Captain .Burgwin and Captain Grier had gone down the river to assist the American. 1 traders, who were threatened with an attack by a bocJy of Mexicans from El Passo. We also heard that Mr. James McQoffin had been captured, ~nd take.n as a prisoner to Chih~ahua. . Continumg our JOUrney down the east stde of the RIO del Norte, we soon arrived opposite the town of "Pajarito.". Here the little "Rio San Antonio," which takes its name from tr e town near .its · source, yields up its waters to the grand liver of Mexico. . As I attempted to cross the "RIO Snn Antonio"· my mule sank 'in a treacherous quicksand so suddenly that I coulu not throw myself out of the sadrlle before she was half covered. I managed to scramble to the bank, from wnence I started, while the mule, relieved of my. weight, struggled to the opposite side of the stream, which she ·reached in safety. After a march of 11 miles, without seeing a single town on the east side of the river,· we recrossed the Rio del Norte, and encamped at "Padillas." . This town is near the foot of a high mound, ancl is whoiJy Mexican. While travelling about New Mexico I tried several times to gain information with reference to the population of the towns, the numbers of the flocks and herds owned by the inhabitants. I have asked how much corn and how much wheat the land yields to the" fenegada," but never obtained other than the reply of "quien sabe ." I would therefore hnve been obliged to content myst-Jf with rude approximations as to the · number of inhabitants, had I not fortunately been enabled to get hoi.~ of a docnment from the State department at Santa Fe, which,. coming in an offieial form, is likely to present a correct statf.'ment .... It is so intimately connected with my rep1ort that I will at once in-troduce it. Extract from the records in the State Department at Santa Fe._ [Translation.] I Mari~no Martinez de Lejanza, brevet brigaclier general and consti-· tut1?nal governor of the department of New Mexico, to its inhabttants sends greeting, that the assembly of the departmet has. agt eed to decree the following: The asserpbly of the department of New Mexico, in discharging the powers w~ich are conceded by the 134th article of the organic law of the republic, decrees the following: Division of tl~e department. ART •. 1. The department of New Mexico, conformably to the 4th. article of the constitution, is hereby divided into three districts, . Which shall be called the Central, the North, and the Southeast. • |