FROM MOUTH OF DEVIL S RIVER TO EL PASO DEL NORTE 



77 



crossing being fordablcj formed an accessible pass for the Indians into Mexico. This ford, 

 known as the Lipan crossing, is represented by the preceding sketches. 



The Lipans often visited us here, and made themselves useful as guides. As it proved to be 

 impracticable to conduct the survey on land without taking an interminable length of time, it 

 was decided to make the attempt in the bed of the river ; anticipating such an emergency, boats 

 had been built at San Antonio and brought along in wagons. After they had been put together 

 and launched, and everything in readiness, the train was sent back by the road to Eagle Pass, 

 there to meet the small party selected to descend the river to the same point. Upon trial, we 

 found the boats, which were our only resource, would float — the only thing that could be said 

 in their favor. The wood of which they were made was only partially seasoned, and the hot 

 sun had so warped them^ that they presented anything but a ship-shape appearance. The two 



stem 



skiffs were frail — a moderate blow would have knocked a hole in them — and the flat-boat 

 unwieldy and unmanageable. The current was so strong that two good oarsmen could not 

 it in a light skiff. At the point of embarkation was a short break in the caiion of a few hundred 

 feet on both sides of the river ; the water then again rushed between rocky banks ten or twelve 

 feet high, which increased in height as we proceeded. It would seem incredible that the bed of 

 the stream could have been formed through ledges of solid rock, as shown in the accompanying 



sketch. 



CaRon 



Pecoe 



encam 



impetuosity of its waters, which appeared to force everything before tliern. The bed is narrow, 

 and hemmed in by continuous and perfect walls of natural masonry, varying from 50 to 300 feet 

 in height ; the breadth of the river being extremely contracted, these structures, seen from our 

 boats, look stupendous as they rise perpendicularly from the water. It is not unfrequently the 

 case that we travel for miles without being able to find a spot on which to land. The limestone 



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