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[ 174] 260 
some low places, well timbered with cottonwood and willow, where was. 
another. of the customary camping grounds. . Here a party of six Indians, 
came into camp, poor and hungry, and quite in keeping with the character 
of the country. Their arms were bows of unusnal length, and each had 
a large gourd, strengthened with meshes of cord, in which he carried water. 
They. proved to be the Mohahve Indians mentioned by our recent guide ; 
and from one of them, who spoke Spanish fluently, I obtained some inter- 
esting information, which I would be glad to introduce here. An account 
“eb 
of the people inhak iting this region. would undoubtedly possess interest for 
the civilized world. Our journey homeward was fruitful in incident; and 
the country through which we travelled, although a desert, afforded much 
to.excite the curiosity of the botanist; but limited time, and the rapidly ad-. 
-vaneing Season for,active operations, oblige me to: omit all extended: de- 
scriptions, and hurry briefly to the conclusion of this report. _ abies 
The Indian who spoke Spanish had been educated for a number of years 
at one of the Spatiish missions, and, at the breaking up of those establish- 
ments, had returned to the mountains, where he had been found by a party 
of Mohahve (sometimes called Amuchada) Indians, among whom he had 
the Sierra, at the head of the Rio Virgen, (river of the Virgin.) 
He informed us that, a short ‘distance below, this river finally disappear- 
the priests two. different names; and subsequently I heard it called by the 
Spaniards the Rio de las Animas, but on the map we have called it the 
- Mohahve river. . od 
April 24.—We continued down the stream (or rather its bed) for about 
eight miles, where) still in several holes, and encamped. 
: fo w, to the end of the river, from which 
aps sixty miles, without; wa 
rards the ground. It.after wards. occurred of smaller size, frequently in 
s, and is very.fragrant. It has been called by Dr. Torrey spirolobium 
2... The,zygophyllaceous shrub had been constantly characteristic 
‘the. river; and here, among many new plants, a new 
kable species of eriogonum (eriogonum inflatum, T r. & 
ecome so tired and poor by this fatiguing travelling, ing, that 
satroatba seal drs. The Indians had now 
Indians bh 
d were occupied:the re ander of the day 
