I20 Audubon's Western Journal 



July 14th. We commenced our day with the 

 ascent of a steep rocky hill, with the trail cut in by 

 the mules much in the manner of those we had 

 seen before, and the road at first was so steep that 

 we had to lead our horses. One of our mules 

 gave out completely and we had to leave it on the 

 table land which is almost invariably the apex 

 of these mountains. A beautiful grove of pines 

 with short but good grass beneath, made a fine 

 contrast of color. As we camped our usual storm 

 came on more violent than usual, and we were 

 drenched through. Lieut. Browning says: "The 

 claps of thunder and flashes of lightning are very 

 well done in this country." 



July l8th. Our road today was by far the most 

 tedious we have had, being up hill nearly all the 

 time, but the view from the top almost repaid us, 

 if not our mules, for the toil. We arrived at the 

 highest top near Jesus Maria; miles of mountain 

 tops and peaks of rock and woods are far below 

 us. Through a gap we looked at clouds blending 

 with the mists below them, until the scene was 

 like an ocean view. 



Four hours and a half of most precipitous 

 descent brought us to a luxuriant growth of pine 

 and spruce, and passing through one of the wildest 

 and most picturesque gorges I have ever seen, we 

 came to the extraordinary little town of Jesus 

 Maria, situated at the junction of two little torrents 



