Doyvtu—Rio del Fuerte of W. Mexico, and its Tributaries. 68 
oranges, and cacti will grow at the bottom wherever there is room 
for them, while there is frost nearly every night on the top; and 
yet a stone dropped from the edge of the mesa would, in many 
places, fall and roll all the way to the river. Further up, the cafion 
contracts to a chasm so narrow that it could be bridged at the top, 
but here it is a couple of miles wide. 
Here and there in this region one comes across cave-dwellings 
of Tarahumari Indians, a primitive race of fine physique; they are 
of a dark copper red colour, with long coarse black hair reaching 
to the shoulder, and confined by a fillet round the forehead. They 
are very shy and retiring, living by their own tribal customs, and 
making their own pottery, clothing, and arms, without intercourse 
with white men. As they are not a warlike race, their continued 
existence and individuality is due to the extreme inaccessibility 
and poverty of the country; but in power of enduring cold and 
fatigue, and performing very long marches with no provision but a 
little parched corn, few hill tribes could compete with them. After 
passing the Cerro de Coroibo the track visits some large caves on 
a high part of the mesa where water can always be found; else- 
where the sources are so far apart that it is desirable to have a 
guide with local knowledge, to avoid the discomfort of a waterless 
camp; forage is also so scarce that corn must be carried for the 
mules. There is a numerous group of grotesque rock-pillars near 
this place. 
The ground here commences to‘slope down with a more broken 
hilly surface towards the téerras templadas, at an elevation of 5000 
to 6000 feet ; the tongues of table-land reaching out between river 
valleys are called cordons, and their level tops enjoy a delightful 
and invigorating climate ; temperate crops and fruits do well here, 
and the little towns were gay with peach blossoms in March. 
Leaving Temoris, a place on the right side of the Septentrion 
river, we descend to a small ranche at the bottom of the valley, 
where an artificial water-course irrigates some terraces planted 
with oranges; there is hardly any level ground, for the steep sides 
of the V-shaped valley nearly everywhere sweep directly into the 
stream. Here, mineral veins, which are uncommon in the upper 
trachyte beds, begin to appear, and there is a large mine close by 
at Realito. Now, ascending to the crest of the left bank at Pan- 
dura, the first view of the foot hills is obtained ; they lie extended 
