TO SANTA CRUZ. 401 
which greatly impeded travel. There was a well- 
marked trail here, but no wagon road. We were often 
brought to a stand by the overhanging limbs of the 
trees; which it was necessary to cut away; and in 
spite of all our precautions, the wagon bows were 
broken. Met a party in a thicket engaged in drying 
beef, who invited us to help ourselves to as much meat 
as we wanted from a bull they had just killed; a per- 
mission of which we thankfully availed ourselves. At 
5 o'clock, encamped among the hills in a thick wood, 
hear a small rivulet. 
September 23d. Resumed our march at 8 o'clock, 
our course still south, through a wood quite difficult 
for the wagons. A few miles brought us to the puerta, 
or gate in the mountain; passing which, we emerged 
into a very broad and open plain of remarkable beauty. 
From the elevation where we first saw this valley, the 
prospect was exceedingly picturesque. Around us grew 
the maguay, the yucca, and various kinds of cacti, toge- 
ther with small oaks ; while beneath us, the valley spread 
out from six to eight miles in width, and some twelve 
or fifteen in length. Unlike the desolate and barren 
plains between the mountain ridges, which we had 
crossed between the Rio Grande and the San Pedro, 
this valley was covered with the most luxuriant herb- 
age, and thickly studded with live oaks; not like a 
forest, but rather resembling a cultivated park. While 
the train was passing down the mountain, I stopped 
with Mr. Pratt to enjoy the scene, which he hastily 
transferred to his sketch-book. Opposite from where 
we stood, and not more than five miles distant, were 
the mountain and gorge, where we had been encamped 
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