424 CHIHUAHUA 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
CHIHUAHUA AND ITS VICINITY. 
Repairs on wagons—Mr. Flotte and his persecutions—The road infested by 
Comanche Indians—Guard hired—General Trias—Governor Cordero 
—A dinner and ball—Ladies of Chihnahua—Dinner to General Trias 
. —Obtain important documents relating to the Boundary—Description 
_ of Chihuahua—Causes of its decline—Its mines—The expulsion of the 
Spaniards—Labors of the Jesuits—Aqueduct—The Cathedral—Mine of 
Santa Eulalia—Casa de Moneda—Commerce, how carried on—Agri- 
cultural products—Alfalfa and its value—Heaps of scoria—Grazing 
lands—The plateau—Immense herds of cattle—Height of the table- 
land—Climate— Diminutive dogs. 
Our journey of two hundred and seventy miles from 
El Paso had disabled several wagons, which had now 
to be repaired. It was also necessary to replace the 
eleven mules we had lost. I determined to engage 
here a few additional men as a guard; as we yet had 
a journey of eight or nine hundred miles before us 
before we should strike the Rio Grande, the greater 
portion of which distance, I now learned, was infested 
with the Comanche Indians. This tribe is ten times 
more numerous than the Apaches; they are among the 
finest horsemen in the world, possess many fire-arms, 
which they know how to use, and go in large bands. 
They are, therefore, far more to be dreaded than the 
Apaches, whose range we had now passed. 
