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Show TOLTECCAN. 237 clothing, raised their dresses " about so high," and waded to town with the utmost nonchalance, laughing, chattering, and singing hymns to the Virgin! Here and there was seen a youth of unusual filial piety, carrying his mother astride his shoulders; but most of the women encountered * he difficulties of the way with a hardihood fully equal to that of the men. Two hours of Mexican awkwardness set us across, and we left the west bank for the sand hills just as the great bell of the adobe ca-thedral was calling these copper- colored Christians to morning mass. The western hills looked bad enough from the town, and more than kept their promise. One mile across the valley brought us to the first mesa, not more than fifty feet above the river, and covered for four or five miles with a tolerable growth of greasewood, cactus and bunch-grass, indicating some fertility. Then we entered upon another grad-ual ascent for two miles, which brought us fairly upon the desert. The awful, the unutterable desert ! Miles on miles of blistering sand or rock glowing in the midday heat. At 2 P. M. we halted for a brief rest, ungeared the mules, and crawled under the wagon for shade. North, south and west we saw only desolation; eastward a faint line of green marked the course of the Rio Grande. Oh, to be on its green banks once more. To us it appeared " more to be desired than Abana and Pharpar," or all the rivers of Judea and Damascus. The water in our canteens was ex-hausted before noon, and the soldier, just recovering from a long debauch, was almost frantic with thirst. He tried the usual resource: to scrape a bacon rind and chew it; and allow me to add, it is a splendid substance with which to mitigate thirst. Soldiers tell me they have gone two days without water, and avoided any serious suf-fering by this simple expedient. A piece of silver, or small splinter of mountain pine, held in the mouth and rolled about with the tongue, is often used for the same purpose. In an hour the evening wind rose, and we moved on. At 5 P. M., we reached a down grade, and saw on the western horizon a strag-gling line of dwarf pines, indicating the course of the Puerco. Our mules showed new life, gave a grateful whinny, and broke into - a trot. Fortunately we found some water still in the channel, though fast sinking. Three weeks ago the Rio Puerco (" Hog River ") was a tor-rent; one week more, and it will be a resaca (" dry channel"). It runs but two months in the year ; at other times, travelers must hunt along the dry bed till they find a brackish pool, or dig in the lowest depressions. The water looked exactly like dirty milk, and its tern- |