456 



Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



back of the altar. 



men. TTie person with whom I was convprsin^, assuret! me thaf, 

 some ten or fourteen years ago, a wealthy individual of Santa F6y 

 who had been admitted to the estufas, or vaults at Pecos, and who 

 had profaned the "eternal fire," had been ever since perfectly- 

 deranged. 



Oc/o6€r 7.— Again I visited the ruins of the military chapel, in 

 the plvjza, in order to makg a sketch of a large tablet that stands 



This is a beautiful piece of art, and represents 

 the principal Mexican saints. Above all is Santa Maria, then St. 

 Jago, riding over the turbaned heads of his enemies; on the right 

 is St. Juan de Pomasan, the back ground ornamented with a repre- 

 sentation of an aqueduct; under him is St. Francis Xavier, bap- 

 tizing the Indians; and in the back ground conical huts, such as 

 are built by the rudest tribes. Oh the left is St. Jose, and below 

 him St. Francisco de Santa F6, standing on two globes. At the 

 bottom of the tablet are two elliptical spaces, containing the fol- 

 lowing inscriptions: 



A DEVOCIONDE 



SEKOR DN. FRANCO. ANT^ 



MARIN DLVALLEGOTE 



NADOBI CAPIN GENDES 



TE REINO. 



IDES VESPOSA 



lA. MARIA IGNACIA 



MARTINEZ DE 



VGARTE ANO 



E 1761. 



Which 



Fco. Ant. M 



deciphered as follows: A devocion de Sefior Dn. 



i^ria de! Valle, governador Y capetan general deste 



5u. esposa Da. Maria Ignacio de Ugarte Ano Chri's- 



tiano 176L The church was doubtless erected many years pre- 



reino. 



vious. 



fi 



Scattered about through New Mexico, one frequently meets with 



These were sent 



over from old Spain; and, at one time, the Spaniards used to send 

 over fine workmen and artists to construct and adorn the churches. 

 My Spanish landlady has a fine picture of a female saint, that I 

 have endeavored to purchase from her; but she conceives that it re- 

 presents the "virgin santissima." It has a dagger sticking in the 

 heart; this I called her attention to, but she could not be induced 

 to part with it. * 



- Before proceeding further, I deem it proper to introduce, at this 

 place, the notes furnished by Lieutenant Peck, with reference to 

 that portion of New Mexico situated to the north of Santa Fe, and 



which had been examined by Lieutenant Warner and Lieutenant 

 Peck before I arrived. 



These notes form an important porti-n of this report, which 

 would be incomp ete without them. They properly belong to the 

 body of the work, and should, therefore, be placed in it, rather 

 than m an appendix. • ' '*'"^^ 



• "Tbj \^^^, Taos, originally given to the region of countrt embra- 

 cing the head waters of a river of the same name, has lolTnle 



San lernandez. Tnis town is situated at the junction of the 'two 



