DoyvLE—Rio del Fuerte of W. Mexico, and its Tributaries. 69 
by a slight deposition of mist or fine rain, in ascending currents 
of air, forced up the cliffs by wind; a short distance from the 
edge, such moisture is absent. 
The track passes Tecumichic (elevation 5950 feet) and Sinagita, 
and emerges on the edge of the mesa at Hl Ojito (the little eye), 
whence one can see several thousand square miles of country, 
including points sixty miles distant. On the east, is the Cerro 
del Pilar, a series of singular forms of eroded trachyte, and the 
old lake basin of Tubares; to the south, are the volcanoes of 
Realito, Cobre, and Pinitos; and west, are long tongues of table- 
land divided by precipitous valleys. Such a view must be uncom- 
mon in any country. From this point the track descends rapidly 
to the hot springs of Huachara situated among a number of 
small hills with streams winding among them; the remarkable 
similarity and strange form of these hills can hardly be due to 
ordinary erosion ; they are composed of loose stones, gravel, and 
sand of a reddish colour, and the entire hollow is filled with them. 
The track passes over Sausillo, and from El Sillon beyond it, a new 
view is obtained of innumerable small hills and mountains ; it soon 
passes the boundary between the old trachyte and the recent vol- 
canic area, and reaches La Junta by Tacopaco, a village in a valley 
containing many palm-trees called tacos. 
Descending the main river to Agua Caliente de Baca the bed is 
found to be of syenite; it finally emerges into the low country 
through the Cajon de Huites, between the Cerro de Santiago and 
the Cerro de Chuchaca. Belowthis, the country is generally syenite, 
but part of it is covered by a lava sheet 20 feet thick, which filled 
an old bed of the river, moulding itself to the waterworn rocks, 
sealing up beds of gravel, and sometimes rising into bubbles 
over pools; the river subsequently cut through the layer and 
50 feet of syenite, leaving the junction exposed on a cliff. As 
auriferous veins are abundant in the upper course of the river, 
gold might be expected in these gravels; a surmise which was 
verified by washing a handful of gravel. The top of the lava 
bears a plantation of large cultivated agaves for making the 
spirit called mezcal: they grow luxuriantly on the decomposing 
rock. The lava extends to Agua Caliente, where there are 
springs at a temperature of 120° F., containing sulphuretted 
hydrogen and carbonates; in the hot water the stones are coated 
