THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 287 



On the 25tli of December, 1855, the thermometer at the hospital 

 of Fort Defiance pjave a reading of thirty-two (32°) dcg-rccs below- 

 zero at (j\ a. m. The hospital is not by any means in the coldest 

 portion of the garrison. Two hundred yards distant the mercury, in 

 January, 1856, ranged from four to eight degrees below that at the 

 hospital, and there is not the slightest doubt of the freezing of the 

 mercury had the instrument been placed in the more exposed sit- 

 uation on the morning of December 25, 1855. A number of men on 

 detached service had their hands and feet frozen, and some badly. 

 The mercury was below zero four mornings in December, 1855, six 

 mornings in January, 1856, three mornings in February, and on the 

 mornings of the 1st and 2d of March it was also below zero. 



The table above will give a fair idea of the climate of the country. 

 The winter of 1855 and 1856 was more severe than any one known 

 for many years. The wintry weather commenced on the 1st of No- 

 vember, 1855, and has continued up to the present time, (March 14, 

 1856.) The Rio Grande at Albuquerc[ue was frozen over, and with, 

 ice sufficiently strong to bear a horse and carreta. Those Indians 

 who live habitually to the north of Fort Defiance were obliged to 

 abandon that portion of the country and move south with their flocks 

 and herds in quest of grazing, on account of the depth of snow, 

 which on the mountain, at whose base the fort is situated, was over 

 two feet in depth in March, 1856. It is said by the Indians that once 

 in many years a winter such as that of 1855 and 1856 is experienced, 

 and the assertion is corroborated by the early Spaniards, but none of 

 such severity has been felt since the occupation of the Territory by 

 the United States troops. The winters in the portion of the country 

 inhabited by the Navajoes are, however, generally of short duration 

 and comparatively mild, there being occasionally experienced in De- 

 cember, weather in many respects similar to the "Indian summer" 

 of the Eastern States. As the days become longer and the sun has 

 more power, the roads become well nigh impassable, but it is almost 

 fatal to leave them for the drier-looking but more treacherous ground, 

 miring with horse or wagon being inevitable. In the spring, high 

 wiads, generally from the south and southwest, prevail, and clouds of 

 dust fill the air, rendering travelling at that season disagreeable in 

 the highest degree. Rain and snow also come for the most part from 

 the south and west. In the summer the heat is not oppressive when 

 one is not exposed to the direct rays of the sun ; but^ however warm 

 the days may be, the nights are cool and pleasant,, and blankets are 

 comfortable throughout the summer. The greatest quantity of rain 

 falls in July, August, and September. In April, May, and June, 

 vegetation becomes much parched, suffering greatly oftentimes for 

 water. The country is at such an altitude that evaporation goes on 

 ■with great rapidity, and when showers are not frequent, vegetation 

 sufiers. 



The amount of land fit for cultivation is very limited when com- 

 pared with the extent of country. Out of New Mexico we doubt if 

 any similar extent of country can be found in the domain of the 

 United States, in which the proportion of cultivable land is so small 

 as in the country inhabited by these Indians. It is generally neces- 



