Page:Memoir of a tour to northern Mexico.djvu/66

[ 26 ] May 5.–We started early in the morning, and went over a hilly country, till we ascended a table-land that divides the water courses of the Conchos and Rio Grande. A barometrical observation, made on the height of the table-land, gave an elevation above the sea of 4,700 feet. The plain was strewn with pieces of limestone, of common quartz, and of calcedony. Instead of mezquite, there was more grass around us, and instead of mountains, only hills, rolling towards east and west. From this table-land we descended again into a chaparral valley, running from northwest to southeast, and surrounded by high mountains of limestone. The chaparrál had been set on fire, and thick masses of smoke rolled over us; but it did not in the least interrupt our march, although it made the heat in the valley more suffocating. I could not ascertain if this fire had originated from accident, or if Ugarte's bands had raised it to molest us; or if, perhaps, a disciple of Professor Espy's doctrines, travelling ahead of us, had the kind intention to produce a rain-shower for us in the Jornada;–at any rate, the experiment failed, and ended but in smoke. Some distance ahead, we met with arriéros, (muleteers,) carrying a large stock of brown sugar from Saltillo to Chihuahua. They sold the "piloncillo," a small loaf, weighing about one pound, as cheap as one medio, (sixpence.) About eight miles from our to-night camp, we passed a spring, with a water-pool, in a ravine to the left of our road; but the water was so muddy and brackish, that the animals refused to drink, or rather to eat it. This spot is known as San Antonio camp. Three miles further, a few deserted houses, and a spring on the right hand of the road, (San Blas,) are found; but the water is equally bad, and of sulphureted taste. The first good water, and in sufficient quantity, is met about five miles beyond San Bias, in San Bernardo, a deserted rancho, with willows and cotton trees, built against a steep mountain wall, from whence a fine creek takes its origin. A small plain half a mile below the rancho contains also some springs and water-pools, and good grass. We pitched our camp in this plain. We have travelled to-day, according to my estimate, about 40 miles. The long distance, as well as the want of water, the excessive heat, and especially the tremendous dust in the narrow road between the chaparráls, made to-day's march one of the most fatiguing.

May 6.–We started late to-day, and made but 10 miles, to the Cerro Gordo, or el Andabazo creek. Having crossed the mountain, at whose foot San Bernardo lies, we went for a mile through a cañon, with mountains of limestone on both sides, and from there into another valley, watered by the el Andabazo. This considerable creek seems to run from southwest to northeast; but whether it is connected with the Nasas river, or, what is more likely, runs into lake Paloma, a small lake northeastnorthwest [sic] from the large Laguna de Tlagualila, I was unable to ascertain. The Mexicans are generally so indifferent as to the geography of their neighborhood, that a traveller is often at a loss how to reconcile the many different statements. On the left bank of the river was a deserted rancho: we crossed the water and encamped on the other side, amidst chaparrál.

May 7.–Made 25 miles to-day, to the hacienda of San José de Pelayo. The country over which we travelled is a wide plain, with distant hills towards east and west. Chaparrál shrubs, and on the higher places a great deal of lechuguilla and sotol, cover the ground. A good-sized Echino cactus, of which I took a specimen along, was very common; and the Opuntia arborescens, with its straight stem and great many