

52 Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



and a little stunted acacia. The iodeodonda Is anew plant, yery 

 oifensive to the smeJl, and, when crushed, resembling kreosote. Its 

 usual growth is the height of a man on horseback, and is the only 

 bush which mules will not eat when excessively hungry; besides 

 this were varieties of ephedra, erythercea, helianthus peliolaris, and 

 two well known and widely diffused, grasses, the reed grass, and a 

 short salty grass, uniola distichophylla., 



October 6.— It was determined to follow the river still farther 

 down before turning west. Great difficulty was experienced in 

 getting teams to assist us. • The Mexicans we had engaged, as if by 

 universal agreement, refused to go farther," alleging fear of the 

 Apachesj but the truth was they expected to extort money. In 

 Armijo's day, when a thing was wanted for government, it was taken. 

 Our treatment turned their hieads, and, like liberated slaves, there 

 was no limit to their expectations and exactions. We used every 

 means to bring these people to reason, but finding them intractable, 

 and that the progress of the army was arrested, .the quartermaster, 

 Major Swords, seized what wagons and animals were needed and 

 paid a liberal price for them. To our surprise they were perfectly 

 enchanted at the whole business; first at being paid at all, but prin- 

 cipally at being relieved from the responsibility of decidino- for 

 themselves what they would take for the chattels. A Likely'^ boy 

 w^ho had been engaged to go to California as arriero, was to-day 

 claimed by his creditor or master. He owed the man sixty dollars, 

 and was by the law of the country paying this debt by serving at 

 two dollars per month; out of this he was to feed and clothe him- 

 self, his master being sutler. It was plain he could not pay his 

 debt in his lifetime. When such debtors get old and unfit for labor 

 it is the custom to manumit them with great pomp and ceremony. 

 This makes the beggars of the country. The poor debtors thus 

 enthralled for life for a debt of sixty dolhrs are called peons and 

 constitute, as a class, the cheapest laborers in the world. The price 

 of the labor for life of a man was, in the case we have stated sixty 

 dollars, without any expense of rearing and maintenance in inf^ancy 

 or old age, the wages covering only a sura barely sufficient for the" 

 most scanty supply of food and clothing. 



I saw some objects perched on the hills to the west which were 

 at first mistaken for. large cedars, but dwindled by distance to a 

 shrub. Chaboneau (one of our guides) exclaimed " Indians! There 

 are the Apaches." His more practised eye detected human figures 

 in my shrubbery. They came in and held a council, swore eternal 

 friendship, as usual, no doubt with, the mental reservation to rob 

 the first American or Mexican they should meet unprotecfcd 



The women of this tribe rode a la Duchesse de Eerri, and one 

 of them had an infant, about two months old, swung in a wicker 

 basket at her back Their features were flat, and much more negro- 

 like than those of our frontier Indians; a few Delawares in camp 

 presented a strong contrast in personal appearance'and intejligence, 

 w^th the smirking, deceitful looking Apache. Some of thera had 

 fire arms, but the greater part were armed with lance and bow. 

 They were generally small legged, big bellied, and broad should- 

 ered. 



