VICINITY OF THE ARKANSAS. 221 



three or four miles, retaining for a considerable distance the distinguishing 

 traits before described. 



The vicinity affords an abundance of game, among which are deer, 

 sheep, bear, antelope, elk, and buffilo, together with turkeys, geese, ducks, 

 grouse, mountain-fowls, and rabbits. 



Affording, as it does, such magnificent and delightful scenery; such 

 rich stores for the supply of human wants, both to please the taste and en- 

 rapture the heart ; so heaven-hke in its appearance and character, it is no 

 W'onder the untaught savage reveres it as the place wlierein the Good 

 Spirit delights to dwell, and hastens with his free-will offerings to the 

 strange fountain, in the full belief that its bubbling waters are the more 

 immediate impersonation of Him whom he adores. 



But, there are other scenes adjoining this, that demand a passing notice. 

 A few miles above Fontaine qui Bouit, and running parallel with the east- 

 ern base of the mountain range, several hundred yards removed from 

 it, a wall of coarse, red granite (quite friable and constantly abrading) 

 towers to a varied height of from fifty to three hundred feet. 



This wall is formed of immense strata, planted vertically and not ex- 

 ceeding eight feet in tliickness, with frequent openings — so arranged as to 

 describe a complete line. 



The soil in w^hich they appear is of a reddish loam., almost entirely des- 

 titute of other rock, even to their very base. 



This mural tier is isolated, and occupies its prairie r-\to in silent mnjesty, 

 as if to guard the approaches to the stupendous monuments of nature's 

 handiwork that form the back-ground, disclosing itself to the beholder for 

 a distance of more than thirty miles. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Vicinity of the Arkansas. — Settlement. — Tlie Pueblo. — Rio San Carlos, its valleys 

 and scenery. — Shooting by moonhght. — Taos. — Review of the country travelled 

 over. — Taos ; its vicinity, scenery, and mines. — Ranchos and Rancheros. — ?»Iexi- 

 can hoases ; their domestic economy, and filth. — Abject poverty and deplorable 

 condition of the lower classes of 3Iexicans, with a general review of tJieir char- 

 acter, and some of the causes contributing to their present degradation. — The Pue- 

 blo Indians and their strange notions. — Ancient temple. — Cliaracter of the Fuiiblos 

 — Journey to the Uintali river, and obi^ervations by the way. — Taos Utahs, Pa- 

 utahs, Uintah and Lake Utahs. — The Diggers ; misery of their f^iluation, strange 

 mode of living, with a sketch of their character.— The Navijos ; their civilization, 

 hostility to Spaniards, ludicrous barbarity, bravery, &c., with a sketch of their 

 countrj^ and why they are less favorable to the whites than formerly. 



The Arkansas at this point is a clear and beautiful stream, about one 



hundred and fifty yards wide. It fiows over a bed of rock and pebbles, 



with a rapid current, averaging two feet in depth. Its southern bank is 



steep and inducts to a high sandy prairie, which present a somewhat ster- 



19* 



