a <a : ox. re ; —— 
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We inde our noon halt at the grass patch. At this place were 
the remains of an immense Indian settlement; pottery was every- 
where to be found, put the remains of the foundations of the houses 
were imbedded in dust. The outlines of the acequias, by which 
they irrigated the soil, were sometimes quite distinct. 
"The soil was moist, and wherever the foot pressed the ground the 
salts of the earth efloresced, and gave it the appearance of being 
covered with frost. In this way the numberless tracks of horses 
» and other animals, which had at times traversed the plains, were. 
indelible,” and a be traced for great distances, by the eye, 1% 
ong white sea 
We found fresh iveits of horses, which might be those of prt 
Castro, or the Indians. When leaving California, Castro’s deter- _ 
eas as we learn from Carson, was to go to Sonora, ee ; 
cruits, and return. Our route might easily be reached, for we 
how marching along a road everywhere accessible, and within three 
- 
days’ march of the settlements of Sonora and the fort at a is 
said to be regularly garrisoned by Mexican soldiers 
We passed the deserted lodges of Indians, and ». at one place 
remote from Os — es, we saw thirteen poles set ‘ip in a sort 0 
e mu 
’ frolicsome pace, those which were loose contendiil , with each other 
for precedence in the trail. The Spee My which ad: nearly, every 
mountains we were informed that we bade adieu to grass, and our = 
ad the long 
“mules must henceforth subsist on willow, cotton woo ed and 
green ephedra. 
November - 10.—The valley on the adutheds side: of fhe Gila it 
grows wider. Away off in that direction, the peaks of the Sonora 
mountains just peep above the horizon. On the north side of the 
river, and a few miles from it, runs a low chain of serrated hills. 
Near our encampment, a corresponding range draws in from | be me 
Southeast, giving the river a bend to the.north. At the base of this 
chain is a‘long meadow, reaching for many miles south, in whi 
the Pimos graze their cattle; ; and along the whole day’s m 
remains of zequias pottery, and other evidences of a onc 
populated country. About the time of the noon halt, a lar 
a which se emed the work fe human hands, was seen to the 
&. was: the remains- of a three-story mud house, 60 feet square, pic 
+ ae and windows. ‘Th e splicgete four = — and 
i. a ne sige od 
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