I 



Ex. Doc. No. 41. 505 



dispositive determination to prevent any one from going to Chi- 

 huahua until Colonel Doniphan should arrive* This evening, how- 

 ever, all the traders assembled and drew up a letter to Captain 

 Walton, desiring that Mr. Kerford should be allowed to proceed. 

 His goods have come through the United States from England, in 

 the original packages, and have been, thus far, free of duty- and 

 now, if they are brought into competition with the goods of the 

 other traders, it will be ruinous to them; but if Mr. K. is 

 allowed to proceed at once, he will pass on through Chihuahua to- 

 wards Zacatecas and Durango. As he has an immense stock 

 of goods, this arrangement was greatly desired. 



December 5.— The hunting party returned- they had been unsuc- 

 cessful, although they saw many deer and wild turkeys. To-day we 

 went up to Captain Walton's camp, when we found that he had 

 gone down the river to visit his picket guard at ^^Fray Cristobal.'' 

 On my return I got a fine specimen of the Mexican meadow lark, 

 "sturnella neglecta." 



December 6. — In accordance with the arrangement which I yes- 

 terday made with Captain Walton's commissary, I sent up 

 my wagon to-day for some provisions. We obtained all we wanted, 

 except sugar. While at the camp, we heard that one volunteer had 

 been shot by another, in a brawl. We heard to-day of the death 

 of Lieutenant Butler, Colonel Doniphan's adjutant. This news cast 

 quite a gloom over our feelings, for he was much esteemed by all 

 who knew him. Every moment we are expecting a mail, and 

 ardently desire to hear the news, to be enabled to shape our course 

 so as to reach the United States by the speediest route. The eve- 

 ning was, extremely unpleasant; it was hard to tell whether it was 



raining or snowing. W 



cotton wood treesy 



..w a o — ' 



and turned our animals loose to browse upon the tender bark of the 



^ December 7. — During the morning I was busily engaged in skin- 

 ning birds, we had killed eight Mexican blue birds, ^^sialia occiden- 

 talis." They differ from the, blue birds of the United States, in 

 having the back brown, and the wings tipped with black, and are 

 niore delicate in their contour. We find great numbers feeding 

 ^pon the mucilaginous berries of the ' misletoe, which, in this 

 vicinage, grows upon every cotton wood tree. 



December 8. — We procured several specimens of the red winged 

 flicker, ^^picus Mexiea'nus." On dissecting them I found their 

 stomachs full of ants. In the evening, Mr. Houck, Mr. Kerford, 

 Mr. Harmony, Et Seiior Algier, and El Seiior Porros, arrived at our 

 camp; they were going up to see Captain Walton, in order to ma\e 



a more formal representation. • ^ ... 



December 9. — Spent this morning in hunting quails, in the vicinity 

 of the «'mesa" below us; procured a female ^^ortix squamosa, m 

 fine plumage. There are several coveys of these birds in the 

 neighborhood of some sand knolls; but the ground is so overgrown 

 ^ith clusters of artemisia, and the birds run so rapidly, that it is 

 <Jifficult to see anything but their tracks on the loose sand. 



This evening, we heard that Colonel Doniphan was approaching, 



