RIO SANTA MARIA.—ROUTE FROM VAL DE CHINA. 103 
descent to-day has averaged thirty-five feet per mile. The principal obstacle encountered upon 
the march was quicksand in crossing the stream. 
February T.—Passing onward we threaded the valley of the river nearly south eight miles, 
to a point of a metamorphic range of mountains where the stream turned westward. Here 
entered from the east a river, with a wide valley, in all respects equal to that we have followed 
from the mouth of Big Sandy. Looking east, the stream appeared bordered with a long line 
of cotton-wood trees, and large thickets of mezquite covered the bottom-lands. It flows, doubt- 
less, from the western slope of the Black mountain, and may be the main stream of Bill Wil- 
liams' fork. We call it Rio Santa Maria, a name which early Spanish map makers applied to 
the whole river. Had we been able to extend our reconnaissance farther south in the great 
grass valley which was called ** Val de China,’’ it now seems highly probable that we should 
have discovered a passage through the Aztec range south of Mount Hope, to the head of this 
stream ; and thence would have followed it by a direct course to this place. All the indications 
we have seen appear to mark this route as highly favorable. The dividing ridge near Black 
mountain appeared lower than Aztec Pass. It is probable, therefore, that the valley of Rio 
anta Maria is less obstructed by cañoned banks than the branches we have followed. It is a 
source of great regret that we were unable, from want of time, to make this examination. An 
interesting region is therefore left for future explorers. The river, for the day’s march, has 
rolled upon a wide and sandy bed, occasionally with fertile soil upon its banks. Rocks, vol- 
canic, metamorphic, and red sandstone, were piled upon each side of the valley in fantastic 
shapes. Upon the right was a volcanic cone called ‘‘ Artillery Peak." Vegetation has been 
Artillery Peak. 
as unique and beautiful as falda Pitahaya, from thirty to forty feet in height, with huge 
branching arms; Echino cacti, with rose-tinted spines; the glittering chug cactodendron, and a 
new fructesount variety, have rendered the scenery picturesque. We bivouaced about two 
