208 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



the upper level possesses all the ingredients necessary to productiveness, 

 except that furnished by water. Supply this and all the table lands of 

 New Mexico will yield rich returns for the labor bestowed upon them. 

 I am of the opinion that for a part of its course the Pecos is some- 

 what sluggish, but I may be mistaken in this, as I base it entirely on 

 the following data, viz, that from Anton Cbico to the mouth of the Dela- 

 ware the fall amounts to one thousand two hundred and fifty feet, 

 which gives an average of but little more than four feet to the mile, but 

 as the fall between the north end of the Guadalupe Mountains and the 

 mouth of the Delaware is very rapid, and at the upper portion is also 

 above the average, I infer that for a part of its intermediate distance 

 the fall is but little. 



WESTERN NEW MEXICO. 



Although this is not embraced in the Eio Grande district, it is per- 

 haps best to add here what few items I have obtained in regard to its 

 agricultural capacity. 



The Eio San Juan, a tributary of the Colorado of the West, although 

 rising in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado Territory, bends south 

 and traverses the northwest portion of New Mexico, where it receives a 

 number of affluents. Colonel McClure and Governor Amy inform me 

 that these valleys afford a considerable breadth of very rich land, which 

 can be irrigated, and which will produce flue crops of the cereals, veg- 

 etables, and fruits usually grown in the Middle States. As this area 

 appears to be almost, if not entirely, unoccupied, it would present a 

 good point for a colony. 



The upper tributaries of the Puerco of the West, a branch of Flax 

 River, are flanked by narrow belts of arable lands, but as the water of 

 this river sinks as it descends, it cannot be relied on for irrigating pur- 

 poses. But near the mountains here, as along the headwaters of the 

 Zimi, crops may be raised without irrigation, as the supply of rain is 

 said to be generally sufficient for this purpose. Even around Zuni, 

 where an ample supply of water can be obtained from the Zuiii Eiver, 

 there are no acequias, the inhabitants relying on the rains to supply the 

 necessary moisture. There is probably some peculiarity connected with 

 the local atmospheric currents here which collects the moisture, or 

 causes its separation and fall. The evidences of a former quite numer- 

 ous population, which have served to render this classic ground, when 

 we consider the fact that they are unaccompanied by the remains of 

 aqueducts, would indicate that formerly the amount of rain was sufficient 

 for agricultural purposes. 



The Eio Mimbres runs through a beautiful valley of moderate width 

 and fertile soil, where all the productions of the Central States can be 

 raised, and where even those things which belong to a more southern 

 climate can be grown without difficulty. 



The Eio Gila, near where it leaves the Territory, has some good bot- 

 tom lands, but farther north, toward the Sierra Santa Eita, is pebbly 

 and inferior. In regard to the valleys along its head-waters I know 

 nothing. 



' SOIL, CLIMATE, AND PRODUCTIONS. 



Leaving the description of the Canadian section until I come to the 

 examination of the Arkansas district, I will close my account of the Eio 

 Grande district with a short summary of the information obtained in 

 reference to the soil, climate, and productions of the Territory. 



