284 TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OP 



for the lower and more humid portions of the United States, east of 

 the Territory of New Mexico. Some limestone, of a very impure qual- 

 ity, is found in various localities, but it is exceedingly difficult to re- 

 duce, requiring from ten to fifteen days for its calcination. Sulphate 

 of lime, conglomerate, and in some places bituminous coal, exist. 

 Pyropes, of a fine quality, are seen in difi'erent portions of the country,, 

 but they are generally small — the largest ever seen at Fort Defiance 

 weighing one hundred and twenty (120) grains. Masses of lava, 

 thrown up to the height of from two hundred to four hundred feet, 

 are visible in many sections of the country. An immense stream of 

 this substance exists on the road from Albuquerque to the Pueblo of 

 Zuiii and to Fort Defiance, about sixty miles from Albuquerque, 

 ranging from a few hundred yards to a mile or more in width, and 

 about forty miles in length. The centre of action is supposed, by a 

 competent judge, to have been in the mountain of San Mateo, a high 

 mountain, visible from Santa Fe and Albuquerque, and west of the 

 latter city. This current seems to have flowed at a comparatively re- 

 cent period — the undulations and curled waves being distinctly visi- 

 ble ; and no mention is made of it by the Spaniards who first visited 

 New Mexico, although they traversed the portion of country through 

 which it has flowed. The Indians have no tradition of the eruption. 

 The stream is not in the district inhabited by the Navajoes, but upon 

 its borders. A few miles to the north and south of Fort Defiance 

 large trap-dykes have been thrown up, running across the valley in 

 which the garrison is situated. This, and the adjoining portions of 

 this continent, everywhere give evidence of violent and relatively 

 recent volcanic action. In addition to the eruptions found in so many 

 sections of this particular portion of the continent, we have direct tes- 

 timony in the account of the expeditions of the first Spanish adven- 

 turers to New Mexico and California, as in the following extract : 



" They followed their route, [in the vicinity of the head of the Grulf 

 of California,] and reached a place covered with ashes so hot that it 

 was impossible to march over it, for they might as well have drowned 

 themselves in the sea. The earth trembled like a drum, which caused 

 the suppositi(m of subterraneous lakes, and the ashes boiled in a man- 

 ner truly infernal." 



The soil is chiefly sand, mixed in some places with clay, and is 

 ver^ porous. It is little susceptible of cultivation — doubtless, in some 

 measure, owing to the want of water for irrigation. The ground in 

 many places, especially after having been wet, is covered with an 

 efflorescence of impure carbonate of soda ; and when such is the case, 

 cultivation is out of the question. A qualitative analysis of the water 

 used at Fort Defiance shows the presence of carbonates and sulphates 

 of lime and magnesia and carbonate of soda, as the preponderating 

 constituents ; sulphate of soda, and traces of potash and chloride of 

 sodium. The water is very " hard," and acts as a purgative upon 

 those not accustomed to use it. 



In wet weather, at the close of winter, and in July, August, and 

 September, the country, from the porosity of the soil, is almost im- 

 passable, both in the valleys and upon the mesas, except by the beaten 

 trails. The valleys and hills almost everywhere are covered with ar- 



