Miscellaneous Intelligence. 289 
thereby reach the watering-place early the next day,—before the heat 
me oppressive. The following I extract from my notes: 
“Left San Felipe at 4 o’clock, p.m., July 17. Crossed the sharp Por- 
hyritic mountain ridge separating San Felipe valley from the desert. 
an Felipe Creek cuts through the ridge here and runs off in a narrow 
cafion towards the desert. It is a bold, running stream, but never 
emerges from the cafion in summer, being literally drank up by the first 
breath of the thirsty desert wind. The bed of the stream is not practi- 
cable for horses, so we climbed the mountain, along an Indian pathway, 
and from the crest—about 1000 feet above the valley—had an extensive 
view of the desert, shading away into gloomy indistinctness and blending 
with the dull clouds that skirted the horizon toward the east. To the 
r 
Opuntias constantly pricking the horses, rendering 
‘ares = ntly pricking 
ti a eae = ‘skin that to re ace them was e; and 
| war coat ae fae borne the dle se nytt egold not here 
the most favorable spot 
