COHAHUILA (MEXICO) METEORITES. 347 



1837 there appeared over the town a most brilliant meteor, 

 having a north-west direction. He describes it as most beau- 

 tiful, lighting up the whole horizon, with a trail of brilliant 

 light following in its progress. Shortly after its disappearance 

 among the distant mountains they heard a rumbling sound, 

 immediately followed by a tremendous explosion. 



From the report he thought it fell and exploded as it reached 

 the earth, somewhere between Santa Eosa and the mountains, 

 a distance of some thirty-five miles, and the next day he started 

 with friends to examine the route, hoping to find it. After two 

 days' severe and rough riding they abandoned the search and 

 returned to town. Shortly afterward an Indian brought a piece 

 weighing ten or twelve pounds into Santa Eosa, supposing it to 

 be silver, having found it some ninety miles north-west of the 

 town, being in the same direction in which Dr. Long and his 

 friends had been exploring, the doctor having been deceived as 

 to distance, he only going to the base of the mountain instead 

 of crossing it and then following the valley for some forty miles 

 farther, where I think his search would have been a success. 



Dr. Butcher now undertook the search, after which he writes : 

 "I have returned fully successful, and am making preparations 

 to send on the iron. In making my arrangements I hired 

 eight Mexicans and two Indians as guides, and started into the 

 mountains in a north-west direction, the same as taken by Dr. 

 Long, and found the iron about ninety miles from Santa Eosa. 

 As no vehicle could go into the mountains by the route we 

 entered, I spent two days in exploring a new road whereby the 

 ox- teams could bring them out and get them to Santa Eosa. 

 They consist of eight pieces, varying from two hundred and 

 ninety pounds, which is the smallest, to six hundred and fifty- 

 four pounds, which is the largest, making a total of nearly four 

 thousand pounds. Before the explosion the weight must have 

 been much greater, as it is not probable that I have secured 

 the whole, and we know some was taken away by the Indians, 

 who thought they found large masses of silver, and carried 

 their specimens to Santa Eosa. It appears there is on record 

 a statement of the meteor having passed over the city in 1837, 

 and one of my guides relates as a fact that at that time (1837) 

 a Lepan Indian was riding one of their small ponies through 

 the valley, when his stirrup struck against one of the masses, 



