31 



• 



[7] 



V 



distance Avas not greaf^ but the road badj and the horses on their 



last legs. 



A small detachment was sent forward at day-break, and at six 

 the army followed. Four or five miles from old Pecos the roa-d 

 # leads into a canon, with hills on each side from 1,000 to 2,0t)0 feet 

 above the road, in all cases within cannon shot, and in many with- 

 in point blank musket shot; and this continues to a pdint'but 12 or 

 15 miles from Santa Fe. 



The scenery is vvildj the geological formation much the same as 

 before described, until you begin to descend towards the Del Norte, 

 when granitic rocks and sands are seen in great abundance on the 

 road as far as Santa Fe. Cedar, pifion, and a large growth of long- 

 leafed pine are densely crowded wherever the rock affords ^ cre- 

 Yice5%until within six or eight miles of the town. Fifteen miles 

 from Santa Fe we reached the position deserted by Armijo. The 

 topographical ^sketch, by Lieutenant Peck, will give soma idea of 

 it. It .is a gateway which, in the hands of a^ skilful engineer and 

 one hundred resolute men, would have been perfectly impregnable. 

 Had the position been defended with any resolution, the general 

 would have been obliged to turn it by a road which branches to 

 the'south, six miles from Pecos, by the way of Galisteo. 



Armijo's arrangements for defence were very stupid. His abattis 

 was placed behind the gorge some 100 yards, by which he evident- 

 ly intended that the gorge should be passed before his fire was 

 opened. This done, and his batteries would have been carried with- 

 out difficulty. 



Before reaching the canon the noon halt was made in a* valley 

 covered with some gama, and the native potato in full bl(5om. 

 The fruit was not quite as large as a wren's egg. As we approach- 

 'ed the town, a few straggling Americans came out, all looking anx- 

 iously for the general, who, with his staff, was clad so plainly, that 

 ' thej passed without recogni;iing us. Another officer and myself 

 were sent down to explore the by-road by which Armijo fled. On 

 . our return to the main road, we saw two Mexicans; one the acting 

 secretary of state, in search of the general. They had passed him 

 without knowing him. When we pointed in the direction of the 

 general, they broke into a full run; their hands and feet keeping 

 time to the pace of their nags.* We followed in a sharp trot; and, 

 as we thought,* at a respectable distance. Our astonishment w^as 

 great to find, as they wound through the ravine, through the open 

 well-grown pine forest, that they did not gain on us perceptibly- 



a tr 



cal delus 



J 



I 



ertainly they are in a full run, and as certainly are we only in 

 ot,'' we both exclaimed. I thought we were under some opti- 



ion, and turned to nty servant to see the pace at which he 

 g. ^'Ah!'' said he, ^M:hose Mexican horses make. a mighty 



was going 



•That was a fact;, with their large 



great doing to no purpose 

 cruel bits, they harrass their hoxses into a motion which enables 

 them to gallop very long without ll)sing sight of the starting pl^ace. 

 The acting secretary brought a letter from Vigil, the lieutenant 

 governor, informing the general of Armijo^s flight, and of his readi- 

 ness to receive him in Santa Fe^ and extend to him the hopitalities 



