Ee Be oe ea 
25 Pa saeeemmens 
TO RINGGOLD BARRACKS. + 511 
companied by Mr. Radziminski and our guide. On 
reaching the river San Juan, a large stream which en- _ 
ters the Rio Grande, three miles from Camargo, and on 
which that town stands, we found a body of three or 
four hundred Mexican troops, cavalry and infantry, 
waiting to cross. This stream is quite deep, and is 
crossed by a ferry boat attached to a rope extend- 
ing from one bank to the other. As the boat would 
hold but a few horses, it was evident that, if I waited 
for the whole to cross, I should not get over for hours. 
I sent my guide (who it appeared was a soldier belong- 
ing to the command at Camargo), with my compli- 
ments to the commanding officer, Colonel Cruz, to per- 
mit me to cross at once. This gentleman very polite- 
ly acceded to my request, and directed the boat to 
take over me and my party immediately. On reach- 
ing the opposite side, I rode to the quarters of Colonel 
Cruz, to pay my respects to him, and request permis- 
sion of him to allow the train of the Boundary Com- 
mission to pass unmolested. He assured me that every 
facility should be afforded the train to cross the San 
Juan, and thence to the American line. There wassome > 
danger here; for this officer was in arms against the - 
Mexican government; and but for the character of my 
party, it would not have been suffered to pass so quietly. 
We had had, too, a narrow escape from the rebel chief 
Caravajal, who, with a band of some two hundred des- — 
_ perate characters, had been devastatfng the frontier. 
We had heard of them at various places after leaving 
Monterey ; and at one village, we learnt that they had 
passed but the day before. 
The population of Camargo is about the same as 
