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Show 88 traders. We busied ourselves during th.e day in compl.eting the construction of our houses, and soon .fimshed. the tha.tchmg of all the walls; they already afforded great protection agamst the rude December bl3,st. . . During the day, a Mr. DaVid, a trader, had some of his mules run off by the Indians. In the evening we learned that Mr. Glasgow and several of the traders had started to Santa Fe, hoping to meet Colonel Doniphan and get some positive information with refere'nce to the place where they should be constrained to wint:r. . This morning Mr. Kerford's tram moved down the river, and formed camp near "F:ay Cristobal," .which is 1~ miles belo~. Mr. Kerfor.d is an Englishman, and havmg an Enghsh passport, 1s very anxious to go on t.o Chihuahua, as well as. Senor Algier, who is protected by a Spamsh passport. The comm g of Mr. Ruxton, with letters assuring foreigners that their property would be protected, has made many of the traders very anxious to proceed, for some of them have as much as 150,000 dollars worth of goods at stake. This morning we completed our "adobe" chimney, plastering it within and without with mud, and we have now a complete structure, save the roof, w hieh shall be made if we remain here any length of time. Mr. Ruxton came over and sat a while with us. He said that he w'as going out deer hunting in the morning, and I told him that Reymond, who was a good shot, would accompany him, hoping that the latter would share the good fortune of one who had beeri very s~ccessful i11 hunting. Mr. Ruxton said that while he was at El Paso he met three Americans, who had been taken prisoners by the. Mexicans four months previous. These persons had left the U~Ited State.s to go to C~lifo.rnia, by the way of Sonora; they were seiz~d as spi.es, at the mshgation of a man whom . they had employed as gmde from Santa Fe. The Mexicans had taken al1 that these poo,r fellows possessed, and they were now almost starving th~fe, for they allow~d them only a handful of" frijoles" and a few "tortillas" each day. Mr. R. said that he remonstrated with several per.sons, and with the cura Ortiz, who acknowledged that they were Ignora~t men, without any knowledge of the Mexican bn· gu~ge, and m every way unfit for spies; in fact, that it was ev.Ident t.hat they w~re no spies; . still, however, these men W~re detamed, and havmg tried to make their escape while Mr .. R. was at El Paso, they were recaptured; all this in direct violatiOn of the treaty between the United States and Mexico which stipu~~~ es f.or twelve months' notice to Americans arid Mexicans; be· tndes, It was known to the Mexicans that these men had left before they had any knowledge of the war. h' ~ecember ~.-Again another day of commotion· many going ~~ er al'ld thither .. During the morning, we saw a 'long train of • g1ons pass, belongmg to Senor Porros All of 11s are most anx·. lOUS 'f . . h r aw~I mg news of Colonel Doniphan's movements, and are earhly tired of staying here. December ti.-To-day Captain Walton rode down and expressed ·' ., 89 [ 23] his ositive determination. to prevent an~ 01ie fro.m goin.g to Chihuatua until Colonel Domphan should arnve. This evemng, ho'Y-r all the traders assembled and drew· up a letter to Captain w:Iton, desiring that Mr. Kerford should be allowed to procee~. His goods have come through the United States from England, In the original packages, and have been, thus far, free of duty; and now if they are brought into competition with the. goods of th.e oth:r traders, it will be ruinous to them; but If Mr. K. IS allowed to proceed at once, he will pass on through Chihuahua towards Zacatecas and Durango. As he has an immense stock of goods, this arrangement was greatly desired. December 5.-The hunting party returned; they had been unsuccessful, although they saw many deer and wild turkeys. To-day we went up to Captain Walton's camp, when we found that he had gone down the river to visit his picket guard at "Fray Cristobal." On my return I got a fine specimen of the Mexican meadow lark, "sturnella neglecta." December 6.-ln accordance with the arrangement which I yesterday made with Captain Walton's commissary, I sent "::P my wagon to-day for some provisions. We obtained all we wanted, except sugar. While at the camp, we heard that one volunteer had been· shot by another, in a brawl. We heard to-day of the death of Lieutenant Butler, Colonel Doniphan's adjutant. This news cast quite a gloom over our feelings, for he was much esteemed by all who knew him. Every moment we are expecting a mail, and ardently desire to hear the news, to be enabled to shape our course s~ as to reach the United States by the speediest route. The evem~ g: was extremely unpleasant; it was hard to tell whether it was rammg or snowing. We cut down some huge cotton wood trees, and turned our animals loose to browse upon the tender bark of the twigs. · . Dec~mber 7.-During. the morning I was busily engaged in skin- .nm.g b1rd~ we had kiJled eight Mexican blue birds, "sialia occidental!~." They differ from the blue birds of the United States, in havmg th~ hac~ brown, and the wings tipped with black, and are more delicate .m ~heir contour. We find great numbers feeding up~n the mucilaginous berries of the misletoe, which, in this VIcmage, grows· upon every cotton weod tree. fl' ~ecembe~ 8.-We procured several specimens of the red winged IC er, "picus Mexieanus." On dissecting them I found their ·llomHchs full of (Ults. In the evening, Mr. Houck, Mr. Kerford, r. arhmony, El Senor Algier, and El Senor Porros, arrived at our camp· t e · ' f Y Were gomg up to see Captain Walton, in order to make a more ormal representation. · of Dtehcee"m ber 9, ;-Sp en t th'1 s morn·m g m... h untm· g quai'.1 s, ·m t h e V·I C· im· ty fin 1 mesa below us; procured a female "orhx squamosa," in nei~hb u~age. There are several coveys of these birds in the with c~~s ood of some ~a.nd knolls; bu.t the ground is so overgrown difficult t~ers of arte.misia, and. the buds run so rapidly, hat it is Th . s~e anythmg but theu tracks on the loose sand. Is evenmg 'we h ear d t h at C o I one I D om. phan was approaching, |