62 



LOWER RIO BRAYO. 



themselves on their hlankets, some to sleep, others to smoke, hut 



ticularly to watch. 



The conversation of the first-named party was, rather of a jocose character, directed at the 

 expense of the young American fillihuster who had joined in the Caravajal revolution^ which 



had just heen ended with such 



Mexican troops. A little 



ofiered 



cross in a boat and take the guard, single-handed. His wager not being accepted, he offered 

 to bet '^drinks for the party." Some person, not dreaming he was in earnest, indiscreetly 



took the "bet. 



The absence of the fillihuster was scarcely noticedj and the conversation ahout other subjects 

 had continued for nearly an hour, when it was interrupted by the sharp reports of a revolver, 

 and a yell which reverberated from shore to shore, giving the impression of many voices ; these 

 were (Quickly followed by the rolling fire of a platoon of musketry, and then all was silent. 

 " Could that be S— ?" asked one. *' Impossible !" was the reply. " It would be just like 

 him," said a third. Shortly after a boat containing two or three men was seen to dart across 

 the rapid current from the shadow of the high bluff on the American side. As it approached 

 the opposite side, its occupants, not wishing to violate the usages of the guard, called out in 

 Spanish they w^ere friends, going over to see what was the matter. ^'Matter? HeUT' 

 answered a voice in Enirlish, '' Come here and help me to drive these mustangs in the river.'' 



with one arm shattered bv a musket-ball ; with the 



They found the guard dispersed, and S with one 



other lie was trying to lead all the ten horses to the river-shore. 



small 



ment 



-J opposite an American settle- 

 Lses* The last-named town, like 

 built since the war, and owes its 

 existence chiefly to the contraband trade with Mexico. Reynosa is built on a low cretaceous 

 rid^e, and it is here the first rocks above the surface are seen ; yet none appear on the 



Ame 



immediate banks of the river until we reach Las Cuevas, some distance above, where 

 we find a stratum of cretaceous sandstone 10 or 15 feet thick. At the last named point, 



d 



is also a marked diminution in the auantitv of bottom 



more 



spinose. The uplands on either side impinge close upon the river, and the vegetation is prin- 



luite and cactus. On the Texas side, as we recede from the river, the chapparal 



mez 



gives place to the open prairie, covered with luxuriant grass. This character of the river lands 



r 



extends with little variation np to Ringgold Barracks. 



This military post consists of a few comfortless frame houses, situated half a mile below 

 Rio Grande city. Opposite, and four miles from the Rio Bravo, is the town of Camargo, 

 of about one hundred inhabitants. It is situated on the San Juan river, the first unfailing 

 tributary to the Rio Bravo from the Mexican side. It is one of a series of rivers which 



Mad 



most requires replenishing, as then the supply of water from 



the melt 



larracks was one of the points selected for the close determination of latitud 

 check the lineal survevs, and a point from which excursions could be made 



facility, to determine secondary points by reflecting instruments and by the transmission of 



chronometers 



