Across the Mexican Mountains 133' 



flash, peal after peal, to tell us of the storm which 

 held sway there. Distance lent such enchantment 

 to all that the valleys and slopes looked as velvety 

 as an English lawn. 



Our descent was very rapid, but giving the usual 

 fatigue of a downhill march. I saw many runs of 

 deer, no doubt made by the bucks following the 

 doe, though they are still in velvet. I saw some 

 squirrels but could not get at them, as the stones 

 on which we were walking were so loose that they 

 would sometimes roll two hundred feet (I might 

 almost say yards), and made so much noise that 

 they startled not only them, but the deer. 



At the bottom of the hill we both bathed in the 

 little torrent that waters the beautiful valley; at 

 times it is two or three hundred yards wide, and 

 again compressed so much as only just to leave 

 room to let the stream through. Its chilly bracing 

 foam sent a sparkle through us as if bathing in soda 

 water, and we may boast of having had such a bath 

 as few can enjoy, unsurpassed for its freshness, 

 and in the very heart of the southern Rocky moun- 

 tains, perhaps a spot never seen by any other white 

 men. 



August 6th, Trinidad. The loss of mules, a 

 few terrific passes, and here and there a valley of 

 extreme beauty brought us to the western ridge of 

 the chain of mountains leading down to Trinidad, 

 a little old, worn-out place, having only some few 



