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54 



Ex. Doc. No. 41 



to the usual plants, was that rare one cevallia slnuata, gauva parvi- 

 flora, cenothera sinu^ta, and a species of wild liquorice^ but with a 

 root not sweet, like the Europea-n kind. 



The latitude of this camp by 10 altitudes of polaris, SS"" 41' 19". 



Longitude of this camp, 18 observations, east and west starSj 



t 



i 



October 8. — Camp 69, — The valley of the Del Norte, as we advance, 

 OSes what little capacity for agriculture it possessed. The river 



commences to gather its feeble force into the smallest compass to 



[work its way arou-nd the western base of Fra Cristobal mountain. 



jThe Chihuahua road runs on the eastern side, and that part of it 

 is the dreaded jornado of the tracers, where they must go most 

 seasons of the year ninety miles without water. 



Our road over hill and dale led us thrqugh a great variety of 

 vegetation, all totally diifercnt from that of the United States. To- 

 day's observations of the plants may be taken as a fair specimen of 

 the southern part of New Mexico. First, there Vere cacti'in end- 

 less variety and of gigantic size, our new and disagreable friendj 



.the larrea Mexicana, Frcmontia vermicularis, obione canescens^ 

 tessaria borealis, diotis lanata, franseria acanthocarp^a, several va-. 



* rieties of mezquite, and among the plants peculiar to the ground 

 passed over, were several compositor, a species of malva convolvu- 

 lus, an unknown, shrub found in the beds of all deserted riversj 

 larger grama, as food for horses, nearly equal to oats,>nd dalea 





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formosa, a much branced shrub, three feet high, with beatiful purple 

 flowers. The infinite variety of cacti could not be brought home for 

 analysis, and this department of the Flora must be left to the en- 

 terprise of some traveller, with greater means of transportation 

 than we possessed- A great many were sketched, but not with 

 sufficient precision to classify them. 



The table' lands, reaching to the base of the mountains to the 

 west, are of sand and large, round pebbles, terminating in steep 

 hills from a quarter to a half mile from the river, capped with 

 seams of "basalt. Some curious specimens of soft sand stone were 

 seen to day, of all shapes and forms, from a batch of rolls to a 



boned turkey. 



October 9.-:^The country becomes broken, and the valley nar- 

 rows into a cafif)n which sweeps at the base of Fra Cristobal moun- 

 tain, making it necessary to rise to the table lands on the west sidcj 

 which we found tra^^ersed by deep arroyos, crovrned on their sum- 



We 



mits by basalt, underlay ed by sand. stone. 



I shot two or thi ee quails, {oriix s^iamosal) differing fron 

 in their plumage, but entirely similar to them in their habits, 

 also killed a hawk resembliiN^, in all respects, our sparrov^^-hawk^ 

 except in the plumage, which^ke the quail, was that of the land- 

 scape, lead colored, 



G^me in New Mexico is almost\xtInct, if it ever existed to any 

 extent. To-day we saw a few blackmailed rabbits, and last night 

 Stanly killed a common Virginia deer. 



Three distinct ranges of mountains, on\l^e west side of the rlver^ 

 are in view to-day, running apparently nor^Avestj and nearly par- 

 allel to each other. The lesser range comni^jjces at Secoroj the 



