182 EL PASO AND 
CHAPTER VIII. 
EL PASO AND VALLEY OF THE RIO GRANDE. 
ei colonization of Mexico—Position of E] Paso—Mode of irrigation—Ag- 
mitive mode of life—Flour mills—Degeneracy of people—Dre t- 
+] m 4h A * oo ‘al PR : Me rs s)le—Socorro 
—San Eleazario—Mountain chains—Plants—Carrent and sinuosity of 
the Rio Grande. 
Ix a work like the present, which professes to be @ 
‘personal narrative,” it can hardly be expected that 
much space should be devoted to an historical or ge0- 
graphical description of the countries visited. Such 
digressions are important only as illustrations of the 
narrative, and must necessarily be limited. It was my 
intention to devote a chapter to these subjects, so far 
as they relate to New Mexico; but after looking ove! 
my materials, I find them so ample respecting the 
discovery and colonization of this country and the 
almost unexplored region between it and California, 
that the subject would fill half a volume if I gave it 
the attention it really deserved.. There is no portion 
of the early history of this continent, whether it be that 
