' -Ex. Doc. No. 41. 475 



crossed the " Arroyo de Rito," it is from four to five feet wideband 

 three_ inches deep; it has a sandy bed, nearly twenty yards wide, 

 that is evidently covered with water at certain seasons of the year, 

 The valley along which our road runs is seven miles wide, and is 

 covered with good grass. 



As we continued our journey, we had on our left a ragged toothed 

 sierra, which the distance mellowed to the same tint with the sky. 

 Close to us rosea high mesa of dark red sandstone, that was based 

 on the compact whitish clay; and wherever we could catch a 

 glimpse of the strata above, we found it to present a greyish white 

 -hue; and when we reached it, that it was composed of clay and 

 sand. The first eight miles oi the road was c-mpact and firm; at 

 Its termination a wild looking canon extended into the mountain. 

 Here water can be got, but the path is so strewed with huge frag- 

 ments of rock, that constantly block the way, as to prevent the 

 watering animals there. The first portion of our road was strewed 

 with pieces of petrified wood, full of silicious particles, which glis- 

 tened in the sunlight. 



On one side of the road, we found some wagon-wheel spokes, we 

 •collected them wnth great care, intending to manufacture them into 

 pins for our tents, and pickets for the mules. Hard wood cannot 

 he obtained in the whole of New Mexico. Th.e country around us 

 seems to produce no wood except the cedar. Among the plants we 

 noticed the jucca angustifola,and several varieties of the artemisia. 

 After a journey of tvventy miles, we encamped on the "Rio 

 Puerco," about nine miles above the point at which it receives the 



waters of the "Arroya de Rito," or as it often called " El Rio de 

 San Jose." 



The provision wagons had arrived here only a little time fcefore; 

 one of the teamsters had gone down the river in search of water, 

 so some of us went up the river, and at a distance of two or three 

 miles found some water, that was quite thick with mud. This we 

 collected and put by, to allow the mud time to precipitate. We 

 had brought with us enough water for our immediate wants, so we 

 determined to let the muddy water rest until the next morning. 



On looking at the map, the Rio Puerco appears to be quite a for- 

 midable stream. A river 140 miles long, with a valley of seten or 

 eight miles wide, through which it flows, would lead one to think that 

 here was a fine country for pasturage, and a plenty of water. Not 

 so, for we are now but forty-eight miles above its mouth, and there 

 IS no water; and the valley, deep with sand, only nourishes arte- 

 ciisias, yucca, and cacti. The banks of the Rio Puerco are per- 

 pendicular, and often twenty to thirty feet high; showing that, at 

 some seasons, great bodies of water must rush along its bed. 



The men with the ox-team said that their oxen would not be able 

 to get over the top of the dividing ridge between us and the Rio 

 del Norte, unless they travelled on now, for want of water so soon 

 destroys the strength of oxen. They therefore bade us adieu. 



October 25. — When we arose this morning, we found^ the 

 ground covered with a heavy frost, and there was a skim of ice 

 on the water we had put aside to settle. Indeed we felt quite 



