EXPEDITION REORGANISED. 11 
organised to survey the northern route, and two the southern. 
I took the latter route. 
_ Before bidding adieu to Fort Craig, I must here acknow- 
ledge the great hospitality of Mr. Wardwell, the sutler at 
whose house General Palmer, Colonel Willis, Captain Colton, 
and myself remained as guests during our stay there. The 
good old medisval custom of keeping open house has very 
nearly passed away, even from those spots where for ages it 
was the pride of the proud lords of the soil; but the still 
more bounteous “institution” of keeping open cellars is not 
unfrequently met with in the Far West, and nowhere on such 
a scale as at our host’s in Fort Craig. All day long, and 
often far into the night, did the doors of these capacious 
vaults remain open. Rows of glasses stood temptingly at the 
entrance; and below, in dim twilight, might be seen rows of 
casks, from all of which stuck out the unlocked tap. The 
barrels were not of beer, but Borbon whiskey and other 
spirits, El Paso wine, and real Cognac. All who had the 
slightest claims to acquaintanceship with the host, which in 
this land of freedom meant “a pretty big crowd,” were at 
liberty to help themselves whenever they felt inclined, and 
seldom indeed did I approach that seductive cave without 
hearing the suggestive pop of the champagne cork. 
On Tuesday afternoon we started afresh on our journey. 
[ jomed Mr. Eicholtz’s party. During the week we marched 
seventy miles due south, to a point on the Rio 
; Grande sixteen miles north of Fort Thorn, where 
we left the valley by a gentle ascent, and proceeded westward. 
30 much had this portion of the valley been ravaged by the 
wild Indians—the Apaches and Navajos on one side, and the 
Jomanches on the other—that it was completely depopulated. 
fravelling down the western side, we passed through the 
October 8. 
