THE DISORGANIZATION. 107 



posite where the escort was encamped, Col. 

 Vizcarra, the commandant, honored us with 

 a salute from liis artillery, which was promptly- 

 responded to by our little cannon. 



Considering ourselves at last out of danger 

 of Indian hostilities (although still nearly a 

 hundred and forty miles from Santa Fe) ; and 

 not unwiUing to give our ' guard' as much 

 trouble as possible, we abandoned the organi- 

 zation of our caravan a few miles beyond the 

 Colorado ; its members wending their way to 

 the Capital in almost as many detached parties 

 as there were proprietors. The road from this 

 to San Miguel (a town nearly a hundred miles 

 distant), leads in a southwestern direction 

 along the base ofj and almost parallel with, 

 that spur of snow-clad mountains, which has 

 already been mentioned, bearing down east 

 of the Rio del Norte. 



^ This region is particularly celebrated for 

 violent showers, hail-storms, and frightful 

 thunder-gusts. The sudden cooHng and con- 

 ti'action of the atmosphere which follows 

 these falls of rain, very often reverses the cur- 

 rent of the lower stratum of air ; so that a 

 cloud which has just ceased pouring its con- 

 tents and been wafted away, is in a few min- 

 utes brought back, and drenches the traveller 

 with another torrent, I was deeply impress- 

 ed with a scene I witnessed in the summer of 



1832, about tvvo da\ 



ond the 



Colorado, which I may be excused for allud- 

 ing to in this connection. We were encamp- 

 ed at noon, when a murky cloud issued from 



