^ 



100 NEW TRACKS IN NOBTH AMEEICA. 



marshes "were often met with^ and in these I found some great 

 botanical prizes. When a raihoad brings these monntains 

 within reach of the botanist, he will there find that exquisite 

 little lily, CalocJiortus VemisftiSy and amongst the Labiatie, 

 3fonarda fistulosa (Ko. 66) and M. aristata (No. 65). Of several 

 Penstemona, Penstemon larhafits (No. 81), with its gorgeous 

 crimson flowers, "will rival any other species in that gay 

 family; numerous species of Gilia will be carried back to 

 adorn our gardens, the most beautiful in my collection bein 

 G. longijlora (No. 58), a very graceful plant with delicate blue 

 flowers, G. ptilchella (No. 57), the queen of the familyj with 

 flowers of every tint, from pure white to rich pink, and G. 

 teniflora (No. 56), a yellow variety. Twenty more species of 

 this family liaye been collected in New Mexico. Conspicuous, 

 amongst other plants, are Ijyomwa fandurata (jSTo. 55), Cas- 





tilleja Integra (K'o. 72), Poly gala alba (Xo. '^^\ and Lysimachia 

 ciliata (Xo. 83). Both black and white-tailed deer are 

 numerous; and, judging from the tracks, I should suspect 

 abundance of bear, for in some places nearly every stone had 

 recently been turned oyer by those animals in their hunt 

 for beetles, of which they are very fond. 



On the evening of the Tth of August, General "W. J- 

 Palmer, treasurer and secretary of the company, accompanied 



Captain C. F. Colton, his private secretary, 

 arrived at our camp. He came to relieve General 

 "Wright on the Eio Grande, so that the latter could retm'U 

 and place the results of the survey up to that point, before 

 the directors, who were impatiently awaiting the requisite 

 information to obtain the necessary additional aid from Con- 

 gress before continuing their raih'oad farther into the heart oi 

 the continent. I had met Palmer previously at St. Lorn?? 

 but I little thought, when I shared my tent with him and 





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