108 A THUNDERBOLT. 



behind the mountains, and, after hovering 

 over us for a few minutes, gave vent to one 

 of those tremendous peals of thunder which 

 seem pecuhar to those regions, making the 

 elements tremble, and leading us so stunned 

 and confounded that some seconds elapsed be- 

 fore each man was able to convince himself 

 tliat he had not been struck by lightning. A 

 sulphureous stench filled the atmosphere ; but 

 the thunderbolt had skipped over the wagons 

 and lighted upon the cabaUada, which was 

 grazing hard by ; some of which were afte 



ward seen stretched upon the nlain. It was 



not a little smgular to find an ox lying lifeless 

 from the stroke, while liis mate stood unin- 

 jured by his side, and under the same yoke. 



Some distance beyond the Colorado, a 

 party of about a dozen (which I joined) left 

 the wagons to go ahead to Santa Fe. Fifty 

 miles beyond the main branch of this stream 

 we passed the last of the Canadian watcjs, 

 known to foreigners as the Mora.* From 

 tlience to the GaUirms,'^ the first o^ the Rio 

 ,del Norte waters, the road ^stretches over an 

 elevated plain, unobstructed by any moun- 

 tainous ridge. At Gallinas creek, we found 



As mora means mulberry, and this fruit is to be fovind at the 



th of this stream, one would suppose that it had acquired its 



name from that fact, did not the Mexicans always call it Rio de 



lode Mora, thus leaving it to be inferred that the name had 



originated from some individual called ilora, who had settled 

 upon it 



t Called Rio de las Gallinas by Mexicans. Though saUAna is 

 literally Un, it is here also applied to the turhcy (usually mth a 

 * surname; as gallina de la tierra). It is therefore Turkey river. 



