* NITRO-MURIATIC’ WATER. 55 
nons could kill to the distance of many miles, 
and shoot through hills and rocks and destroy 
everything that happened to be within their 
range. The main object of our visitors, how- 
ever, seemed to be to raise themselves into 
importance by exaggerating the perils we had 
escaped from. That they had considered 
themselves in great jeopardy, there could be 
no doubt whatever, for, in their anxiety to 
overtake us, they came very near killing their 
animals. 
It was a war-party of this band of Co- 
manches that paid the ‘flying visit’ to Bent’s 
Fort on the Arkansas river, to which Mr. 
Farnham alludes in his trip to Oregon. A 
band of the same Indians also fell in with 
the caravan from Missouri, with whom they 
were for a while upon the verge of hostilities. 
The next day we passed the afternoon upon 
a ravine where we found abundance of water, 
but to our great surprise our animals refused 
to Upon tasting the water, we found 
it exceedingly nauseous and bitter; far more 
repugnant to some palates than a solution of 
Epsom salts. It is true that the water had 
been a little impregnated with the same loath- 
me substance for Te eye but we had 
never found it so ba The salinous 
compound which epart this savor, is found 
in great abundance in the vicinity of the table- 
plain streams of New Mexico, and is known 
to the natives by the name of salitre** We 
* Literally saltpetre ; but the salztre — New Mexico is a com- 
pound of pede other salts beside ni 
