REACH TUCSON. 91 
I was anxious to gain information as to the best way to reach 
_ the Port of Guaymas in the Californian Gulf. 
We were two days riding the fifty-four miles from Camp 
Grant, as it is called, to Tucson. The trail we followed, 
which is far shorter than that along the San Pedro, led us 
_ out of the valley of that river by a pass almost due west of 
_ the post. We then turned southward, keeping the grand 
granitic range, the Sierra de Santa Catarina, parallel to and 
near us on the west, whilst a broken, inhospitable waste 
_ stretched out before us to the north, west, and south, as far 
as the eye could reach. This was the commencement of the 
_ Sonora Desert. 
; _ About twenty-four miles from Camp Grant, we stopped at 
a convalescent camp, to which the soldiers who have been 
_ reduced by fever and ague in the San Pedro valley are sent 
_ to recruit. We found nearly half the garrison here under 
4 canvas, their tents perched on a rising ground, at the foot of 
_ which was the only spring upon this “ jornada ” of fifty-four 
miles. Camp Grant seems to be very unhealthy. It is curious 
7 that in an uninhabited country, a good supply of water any- 
4 where is almost sure to be accompanied by those pests to all 
j early colonists—fever and ague. The men quickly recover 
: in this dry upland country to the west of the mountains. 
On leaving the convalescent camp next morning, we kept 
for about nine miles along the summit of a ridge which 
4 bounds a deep gorge, the Cafiada del Oro, lying between the 
1 road and the Catarina Mountains. In this gorge gold has 
: been found in considerable quantities, and all the western 
drainage of the range collecting in it forms quite a ore 
after rain. When we came within seven miles of Tucson, we 
rapidly descended into the valley of the Rio Santa Cruz, 
crossed the dry arroyo coming from the Cafiada del Oro, and 
