Ex. Doc. No. 41. 63 



however, to the south of this. Under this date, in the catalogue of 

 plants will be found many differing from those heretofore observed; 

 amongst them the zanschneria Californica, also a new shrub with 

 an edible nutj a grass allied to the grama, Adam's needle, artemisia 

 cana, and many varieties of mezquite. • 



October 22. — The howitzers came up about nine o'clock, having, 

 in the previous day's w^orlc, their shafts broken, and, indeed, every- 

 thing that was possible to break about them. We again left the 

 river to avoid a canon, which I examined in several places, and 

 saw no obstacles to a good road. The canon was formed by a seam 

 of basalt, overlaying limestone and sand-stone in regular strata. 

 •Through these the river cuts its way. 



Many deep arroyos have paid tribute to the Gila, but in none have 

 we yet found water. Following the bed of one of these, to exa- 

 mine the eccentric geological formation it displayed, I found un- 

 known characters written "on ^ rock, copies of which Avere made, 

 but their antiquity is questionable. 



We w^ere now fast approaching the ground where rumor and the 

 maps of the day place the ruins of. the so called Aztec towns. This 

 gave the characters alluded to additional interest; they were in- 

 dented on a calcareous sandstone rock, chrome colored on the out- 

 side, presenting a perfectly white fracture. This rnade them very 

 conspicuous, and easily seen from a distance. The coloring mat- 

 ■ ter of the external face of the rock .may proceed from water, as 

 there was above the characters a distinct water-line, and every ap- 

 .pearance that this gorge had more than once been the scene of over- 

 flows and devastation. , 

 We encamped on a bluff high above the river, in view of .a rock 

 which w^e named, from its general appearance, Steeple rock. 



Latitude of our camp to-night, by 17 circum-meridian altitudes 

 of beta aquarii, 32° 38' 13". Longitude 109° 07' 30". 



October 23. — Last night the heavens became overcast, the air 

 damp, and we expected for the first time since leaving Santa Fe, (a 

 month to-morrow,) to have a sprinkle of rain; but, at 9 this morn- 

 ing, the clouds had all been chased away, and the sun careered 

 up in undisputed possession of all above the horizon. The atmos- 

 phere resumed its dryness and elasticity, and at night the 

 stars looked brighter, and the depth of the spaces between greater, 

 than 



The changes of temperature are very great, owing to th.e distance 

 from the influence of large masses of w^ater, a'^d, if they were ac- 



ever. 



compafaied by corresponding changes in humidity, they would be 

 insupportable, * Last night we went to bed w^ith the thermometer at 

 70"" Fahrenheit, and awakened this morning shivering, the ther- 

 mometer marking aS"*; yet, notwithstanding, our blankets were as 

 dry as though w^e had slept in a house. 



The table land, 150 feet above the river, was covered so 

 thick w^ith large paving pebbles, as to make it difficult to get a 

 smooth place to lie upon. 



The growth of to-day and yesterday, on the hills and in the val- 

 leys, very much resembles that on the Del Norte, the only excep- 

 tions being a few new and beautiful varieties of the cactus. After 



