478 ‘RIO FLORIDO 
give us a guard of citizens, on my paying the custom- 
ary charge. This I readily consented to, and request- 
ed that seven mounted men might be placed at my 
disposal. The Alcalde said it would not be possible 
for him to find men who would be ready to start in 
the morning, as it was then late. We were, therefore, 
obliged to remain.over a day. 
November 25th. This town consists of a street a 
mile or more in length, well lined on both sides with 
neat adobe buildings, most of which are colored or 
whitewashed. Some streets running at right angles 
contain afew houses. The plaza and church are quite 
ordinary and not in keeping with the rest of the town, 
which is altogether more cleanly and business-like than 
any we had seen since leaving Chihuahua. Ten 
leagues distant are the Véiesca silver mines, the ore 
from which is smelted here. In my walks about the 
town and its vicinity, I observed more cultivated 
grounds than I had seen elsewhere. To the east isa 
level plain full ten miles wide, intersected with irrigat- 
ing canals in every direction. Cotton is cultivated on 
this plain to a considerable extent, and is found to do 
well. I procured some samples of the product, a ready 
market for which is found at Saltillo. 5g 
November 26th. On the arrival of the citizen guard 
this morning, we again set out. Our course lay east 
over the plain mentioned yesterday, which did not con- 
tain a tree ora bush. On passing this we entered a 
mountain defile, and soon after reached the hacienda 
called La Pefia (The Rock). This is simply a well 
with one large building and a cattle-pen, without any 
arable land. It formerly possessed large numbers of 
