MINUTES OP MEETINGS. 163 



extends from Santa Fe to the mouth of the Kio Grande. 

 The color of the grape is nearly that of the Catawba. At 

 El Paso excellent raisins are made from these, superior in 

 fact to the Mahxgas. Around El Paso fruits do well. 

 Apricots are of inferior quality. Peaches abundant. Pears 

 fine. Oregon, however, beats the world in fruits. The 

 common varieties in Ohio grow to double the size there, 

 and the colors are brilliant. A show of fruit in Oregon 

 exhibits every variety of shade and hue, and resembles a 

 fine parterre of flowers- 



In the Doctor's opinion, the Mississippi Yalley is supe- 

 rior to every other section of our country West. In some 

 places West there are spots of great fertility and beauty, 

 but the general character of the country is inferior. 

 Washington Territory is inferior to Oregon. In New Mex- 

 ico, the mountains contain a large amount of mineral 

 riches — gold, silver, copper and lead — the two latter being, 

 in the present condition of things, useless, from the cost of 

 transportation to a market. 



The weather was very wet during a great portion of the 

 time while the survey was in the field, and the conse- 

 quence was, that nearly all the specimens in Natural 

 History were more or less spoiled. Many of the birds were 

 badly injured from the damp. Many specimens of the 

 large grey wolves were seen, and abundance of the smaller 

 kinds. The bulfalo range, at present, is one hundred miles 

 nearer the whites, on the East, than it was some years ago, 

 and it is somewhat doubtful if their decrease in numbers 

 is so great as supposed. The white hunters do not kill as 

 many as the Indians, and the various tribes must have 

 destroyed more of these animals for subsistence, when 

 their numbers were greater than they are now. The 

 Indian is disappearing faster than the buffalo. 



One of the principal objects of the expedition was the 

 exploration of the San Juan River, a large stream, equal in 

 size to the Rio Grande, at its junction. Its banks are 



