

LOS VEGAS. 125 



11 tlie rear came a close carriage, within wMcli a large 

 ^.silver urn occupied the place, of honour, and tankards in 

 . M abundance were placed around it. General Wright and 

 ill received a hearty welcome ; we were invited to consider 

 ^; i':lie hotel at oiu* disposal free of charge as long as we remained, 

 i md we drank the health of each other, and success to the rail- 

 *,^ay, in the refreshing beverages our hosts had brought for us. 

 ^]^ Los Yegas is 6,452 feet above the level of the sea, and very 



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dearly the same altitude as the divide between the waters of 

 ( ;he Pecos which flow into the Eio Grande, and those of the 

 |i>paiiaclian wMcli feed the Mississippi. Tiis divide was crossed 



■ (imperceptibly at a nominal grade between Fort Union and 

 rr/jos Yegas. From the latter place the line surveyed descends 



^'727 feet in twenty-six miles, to the point where it crosses 

 the Pecos Eiver. Then commences an ascent of thirty miles to 

 i^Filley's summit, at the head of Canon Blanco, elevation 7,136 



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4feet, the highest point attained east of the Rio Grande, and 



■ higher than any other crossed on the 32nd parallel along the 

 rrt^ntire distance to the Pacific. Between Fillcy's summit and 

 ^Tsletta on the Rio Grande, a distance of sixty miles, the line 



n^nrvej^ed descends 2,084 feet. 



a The town of Los Yegas is built of adobe;. it has a good-sized 

 '' plaza in the centre, a most comfortable hotel, many well-filled 

 , fetorehousos and shops, and two dancing saloons, where 

 JVIexican bailes, or fandtmgos, as they are sometim 



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' carried on almost every night. The love of the people for 

 (' dancing is almost insatiable, and they certainly indulge in it 

 ■ 'to their hearts' content. It is a common siglit in most of the 

 t.to^Tis of :N'cw Mexico to see the fiddler and an attendant 

 drummer-boy going the rounds at simset, playmg some 



't favourite valse. to announce to all that there will be a dance 



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tLat night. By nine o'clock (for they are very late for 



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