Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/643

Rh perhaps rich mineral deposits, the traveller finds only deserted haciendas and settlements, while the few inhabitants are crowded into small villages, tilling the soil only in their immediate neighborhood, living in constant dread of the savages, and

but a small number of cattle and horses, owing to the frequent raids. Thickly scattered along every trail are seen small mounds of stone surmounted by rude crosses, showing where some poor wayfarer has been murdered by the Indians. "Infelice Sonora" was the name aptly applied by the old writers