510 Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



r 



^^zacate" that our animals had consumed, he would not be per- 

 suaded to receive one real, exclaiming: " No, sefior, no es vale 

 nada.'^ We made but a short march, and encamped about a mile 

 to the north of San Felippe, among some old cultivated fields, 

 "which afforded grazing for our animals. While here, we saw many 

 of the Indians of Santo Domingo, and we endeavored to induce 

 them to bring ^^zacate" for our muleSj but they seemed not to un- 

 dpTstand us: in fact verv few of them 'understand the Mexican lan- 



3 



guage. 



Deccmher 22. — Last night we had a stampede among our animals 

 and this morning several of them were not to be found; I had lost 

 one mule, and some gentlemen who accompanied me from Valverde 

 had lost three horses and two mules. There was no doubt but that 

 they had been driven off by some ill disposed persons during the 

 night. 



The rest of our mules were quite wild and difficult to catch. As 

 I wished to try my skill with the ^"lazo,'' I gave chase to one of 

 the swiftest. As I have so often been obliged to mention the 

 *' lazo," I .will now attempt to describe it, and the method of using 

 this weapon. The best ^^ lazos'^ are made of strips of hide, gene- 

 rally of four strands, which, are beautifully plaited; it has at one 

 end an iron ring about an inch in diameter; through this the thongj 

 which is about one-third of an inch thick, is passed to form the 

 noose, which is so adjusted that the ring shall be at the extremity 

 of the noose farthest from the hand; In this way it is grasped by 

 all the fingers of the right hand, which thus serve to keep the 

 noose open- The remainder of the lazo is neatly coiled, and rests 

 on the forefinger of the left hand, while the extremity of the thong 

 is firmly held by the remaining fingers of the same hand. As the 

 thong is between forty and fifty feet in length, one is obliged to 

 swing the noose horizontally until it acquires sufficient centrifugal 

 force to reach the object of aim. The coils on the forefingers now 

 pass off until at the exact moment, when, with* a jerk of the left 

 hand, the noose is made to close; then a turn is instantly taken 

 around the pommel of the saddle, (if the person be on horseback,) 

 which saves the rider's being pulled from his seat. In New 

 Mexico there is no one*'^ hidalgo 6 puchero'^ who is not well 

 skilled in the use of the all-powerful '' lazo. 



^^^r ^^F ^^ ^k A ^B ^^^ B^^^ 



v^hile we were searching for our lost animals, some of the In- 

 dians of Santo Domingo warned us not to go to Santa Fe, as the 

 Mexicans w^ere going to kill all the Americans there^ We, how- 

 ever, left several men, with directions to continue the search for 

 the lost animals, and proceeded with the intention of encamping 

 on the "Rio de Galisteo." 



On the road we saw foar coyotls or coyotes, " canis latrans/' 

 and made several shots at them, but we were unsuccessful- 



When we reached Galisteo creek we found plenty of water, 

 which, although covered with ice, yet that could easily be broken. 



December 23.— We were up before sunrise, and I had my mule 

 saddled and started at a rapid pace. The day was pleasant, 

 although cold. '"^ 



crease in qua 



jj 



' The snow that lay*upoa the ground seemed to in- 

 ntity as the distance to the city of Santa Fe dimin- 



