CANADIAN RIVER. 147 
of the northern portion of the Witchita moun- 
tains, known to Mexican Ciboleros and Co- 
mancheros as Sterra Jumanes. It was, there- 
fore, evident that this was the principal north- 
ern branch of Red River. The False Washita, 
or Rio Negro, as the Mexicans call it, has its 
rise, as he assured me, between the Canadian 
and this cafiada, at no great distance to the 
southeastward of where we were then tra- 
velling. 
On the 15th, our Comanche guide, being 
fearful lest we should find no water upon the 
plain, advised us to pursue a more northward- 
ly course, so that, after a hard day’s ride, we 
again descended the ceja or brow of the Llano 
Estacado, into the undulating lands which 
border the Canadian; and, on the following 
day, we found ourselves upon the southern 
bank of that stream. 
Although, but a few days’ travel above 
where we now were, the Canadian runs pent 
up in a narrow channel, scarcely four rods 
across, we here found it spread out to the 
width of from three to six hundred yards, and 
so full of sand-bars (only interspersed with 
narrow rills) as to present the appearance of 
a mere sandy valley instead of the bed of a 
river. In fact, during the driest seasons, the 
water wholly disappears in many places. 
Captain Boone, of the U. S. Dragoons, being 
upon an exploring expedition in the summer 
of 1843, came to the Canadian about the re- 
gion of our western boundary, where he found 
the channel perfectly dry. Notwithstanding 
