Ex. Doc. No. 41. 55 



next at Fra CristolDal mountaiiij and the last at a point farther west, 

 yet to be determined. The ravines between are brotidj and show 

 the beds of dry streams^ which would probably be found watered 

 when near their- sources. A butte was seen in the distance, close 

 to the river, and surrounded by trees, which was at first taken for 

 an adobe house, but the'near approach showed it a conglomerate 

 cemented by. lime, which had been left standing when the surround- 

 ing earthswere' washed away. At its base I found some rare spe- 

 cimens of olivine set in lava. The road v/as unbroken, obstructed 

 Isy bushes, and so bad that the wagons made only 11^ miles, and 

 the teams came into camp ^* hlcvcrv^ and staggering after their day's 

 work. Expecting nothing better ahead, it was determined to leave 

 the w^agons and send back for pack-saddles.- My own pack-saddles 

 having been brought along, I had time to observe the rates of my 

 chronometers and make other preparatioi. s necessary for so impor- 

 tant a change in our mode of proceeding. 



October lOlh, llt|;i,'and 12th were passed in camp waiting for the 

 pack-saddles. , " ' . ' 



We are now 203 miles from Santa Fe, measured along the river; 

 16 circum-meridian altitudes, of beta aquariij-and 17 altitudes of 

 polaris give me for the latitude of the place 33^ 20' 02"^ and the 

 longitude, by the chronometer, 7h. 08m. 57s. We must soon 

 leave the river. A cross section of it at this .point is 118 feet wide, 

 with a mean depth of 14 inches, flowing over large round pebbles, 



making it, at this point, unsuitable fo navigation with any kind of 



boats. 



The height of pur first camp on the Del Norte, one mile north of 

 San Felippe, indicated by the barometer,' was 5,000 feet, showing 

 we had descended, from Santa Fe,- 1,800 ie^t. 

 ^Hcre the height is 4^241 feet, showing an average fall in. the Del 

 Norte, from the camp near San Felippe to this place, of four feet 

 and a half per mile. The greater part of the way the fall is uni- 

 form and unobstructed by rapids, and the river flows, for the most 

 part, over a bed of sand, without any sensible increase or diminu- 

 tion in its volume of water. Sumetimes its tranquil course is rip- 

 pled by large angular fragments of basalt, trapp, lava, and amyg- 

 daloid, which everywhere strew the table lands 'of New Mexico. 



Our present camp is in a valley 70 or 100 acres in extent, well 

 grassed and wooded, and apparently untrodden by the foot of man; 

 for here we saw, for the first time in New Mexico, any considera- 

 ble '^signs'' of game in the tracks of the bear, the deer, and the 

 beaver. We flushed several bevies of the blue quail, saw a flock of 

 wild geese, summer duck^' the avocet, and crows. 



Above and below us is a canon, and on the eastern side of the 



m 7 



river the Fra Cristobal shoots up to a great height. We saw on its 

 sides, reaching nearly to the top, large black objects which we 

 could not distinguish with our indifferent glasses, but which must 

 be either shrubbery or rocks. • 



For the last night or two it has been unusually cold, the ther- 

 mometer ranging from 25^ to 32^ Fahrenheit, but du^ng the day 



It mounts up to 75° and 80"". 



October 13.— Moved one mile to get better grass- Just as we 



