Ex. Doc. No. 41. 463 



long story about the depredations committed by the Navajoes- that 

 they kept all New, Mexico poor, whilst they themselves rollec| in 

 wealth; "son muy ricos, tienen muchos caballos, muchos cameras^ 

 muchos bucyos, muchos! muchos ! muchos !'' 



October 12.— The view from this place, is particularly beautiful; 

 on the farther side of the Rio del Norte, a high "mesa" or table 

 land, stretches down the river; just opposite our camp it is 300 feet 

 in height, and at the very l^dge rises an ancient ruin, that from its 

 singular position, excites the speculations of the curious. 

 ^ This is quite a fertile valley, but there is so little of it, and this 

 little the people cannot enjoy, for fear of the Navajoes, who de- 

 scend from the mountains, and sweep away the " cabaladas^^ of the 

 Pueblos and Mexicans, who look on unresistingly. As we de- 

 scended the river, we noticed that the lower strata of the rocks 

 lesembled the saliferous formations on the Rio Canadian. 



We passed through '' Algodones,'' and a mile below, through 

 **^ Angosturas," and after passing over a distance of eight miles, we 

 reached the mouth or the " Rio Jemez,'' Here we *got entangled 

 amongst the ^' acequias,'' which were then full of water; but some 

 Indians kindly extricated us. We visited ^' Ranchito,'' and saw 

 great piles of corn, the best we had yet noticed; then we crossed 

 the Rio del Norte, and ascended the Jemez, passing a curious pil- 

 lar of volcanic rock, that rises from beds of distinctly stratified 

 clay. These strata are turved, and in many places the volcanic 

 rock has insinuated itself between the layers. 



The Jemez valley is very sandy; the bed of the stream three- 

 <juarters of a mile in width, contains, in many places, no water 

 and when it is found, it is of a dark red color. After marching 

 five miles up the Jemez, we reached the Pueblo of ^^ St. Ana." 

 The village was almost enterely deserted, all the inhabitants beino- 

 engaged at Ranchito, gathering their corn. We had much trouble 

 to get wood for our fires and fodder for our mules; there was no 

 grass to be seen any where in the vicinity. 



October 13. — This morning we did not start until quite late, as 

 it required some time to obtain the bearings of the several towns 

 around. Lieutenant Peck deserves the greatest credit for the as- 

 siduity he manifested in the performance of his duties; to-day he 

 clambered up to the high ^^ Mesa," that raised its top 300 feet 

 above us, and fixed the positions of Jemez, San Isadore, and Silla, 

 He was accompanied by a Spanish school master, who teaches the 

 children of the Indians in St. Ana.- The domine gave us much in- 

 formation with regard the country; he said that there were some 

 gold mines at the head of the Rio Jemez, and told us that the In- 

 dians have much ground under cultivation on the tops of these 

 ^* mesas." To be sure these " mesas" are covered with coating of 

 volcanic pck that forms a good soil, but at such a height, where it 

 is impossible to irrigate, and in this country where it scarcely ever 

 rains, it seems; doubtful that much vegetation should be produced. 



At length we started to retrace our steps, and gain the 

 Rio del NorJ;e. We soon crossed the river, which was full 

 of wild gees*?, and passing through " Ranchito," we marched 

 four miles beyond that place when we arrived at '"Bernalillo," 



i 



