be losing 3s. per da 
* 
the ae staff and ube first dragoons 103 bales and rac Pe 
s cc 
leaves 
an army making forced marches into an enemy’s countr 3 
- To-day commenced our half-rations of bread; though not suffer- | 
ing for meat, we are anxious to seize on Santa Fé and ae stock of F 
‘ EN as soon as possible. 4 
[7] ne 20» 3 
mence; and the road, for three or ‘four miles, is just passable for 
a wagon; many of the train were broken in the passage. A few 7 
thousand dollars judiciously expended here, would be an immense 
saving to the government if the Santa Fé country is to be perma- — 
nently occupied, and Bent’s Fort road adopted. A few miles from — 
the summit we ‘reached a wide valley where the mountains open — 
out, and the inhospitable looking hills recede to a respectable dis- — 
tance to the right and left. Sixteen miles from camp 36 brought ~ 
us to the main branch of the Canadian, a slow running stream 
ed a volume of water the thickness of a man’s waists 
e found here Bent’s camp. I dismounted under the shade of a — 
pettia- wood, near an ant-hill, and saw something black which had ~ 
been thrown out by the busy little insects; and, on examination, 
ei 
found it to be bituminous coal, lumps of which were afterwards — 
found thickly scattered over the plain. After crossing the river, — 
and proceeding about a mile and a quarter, I found the party from ~ 
which I had become separated encamped on the river, with a plen- — 
tiful supply of grass, wood, and water; and here we saw, for the. 
first time, a few sprigs of the famous grama, Atheropogon oligos- — 
_taclyum. 4 
- The growth on to-day’s march was pifion in small quantities, — 
scrub oak, scrub pine, a few lamita bushes, and, on the Canadian, 
a few cotton- wood trees; except at the camp, there was little or 
no grass. The evening threatened rain, but the clouds passed ; 
‘away, and we had a good night for observations. We have had — 
no rain since we left Cow creeks, thirty days a 
grass. ; 
There may be mineral wealth in these mountains, but its dis-— 
covery must be left to some explorer not attached to the staff of © 
ng show : 
ak Yetitude of the camp is 36° 47' 34"; the longitude 6h. 56m. — 
On the 7th, I measured 8 altitudes of arcturus in the. west, and | 
8 of alpha aquilze in the east; and, on the 8th, 10 of arcturus 3 
and 8 of alpha aquile—showing the rate of chronometer 783 to 
eMioe: height determined approximately, is 6,112 feet above the 7 
sor en 9.—We broke up camp at 2} o’clock, and marched with 
re now in what may-be called the es of that part of © 
between Bent’s Fort and San Miguel; and yet he who _ 
e.edge of the Canadian or its tributaries must make a ~ 
good ‘ay? s march to find wood, water, or : 
a 
