EL PASO WINE, ETC. ANTIQUITIES INDIAN RAVAGES. 339 



The mode of cultivating the vineyards in this region is simple. 

 The vines are covered in winter with earth, are kept clear from 

 weeds, hoed and pruned at the proper season, but they are not at- 

 tached to stakes . or espaliers. The soil and climate are so genial 

 that less labor is required than in other countries ; but a great deal 

 of the fertility of the beautiful valley must be ascribed to the in- 

 genious system of irrigation, which is produced by a dam con- 

 structed in the river above El Paso, which turns a large body of 

 water into a canal. This canal, spreading into numerous branches 

 and re-uniting again, provides all the cultivated land with a suffi- 

 ciency of moisture. 



Some remains of antiquity are found in the north-western part of 

 the State, lying near the village and creek of the Casas Grandes, 

 between Janos and Galeana. Ruins of large houses, known as 

 M Casas Grandes" in the language of the country, exist in this 

 neighborhood, built of sun-dried bricks, or adobes , and squared 

 timber. They are three stories high with a gallery of wood and 

 stairway from the exterior, with very small rooms and narrow doors 

 in the upper stories but without means of entrance in the lower. 

 Water was brought to the spot from a neighboring spring by a 

 canal; and a watch-tower, commanding an extensive prospect, 

 stands on an elevation two leagues south-west of it. A series of 

 mounds, containing earthen vessels, weapons, instruments of stone, 

 and fragments of white, blue and violet colored pottery, extends 

 along the banks of the Casas Grandes and Janos creeks. 



The State of Chihuahua has suffered and still suffers greatly and 

 constantly from the incursions of the barbarians who ravage her 

 frontiers and descend boldly into the very heart of the settlements. 

 The uncertainty of life and insecurity of property have, of course, 

 prevented the development of a region so valuable for its mineral 

 and agricultural resources ; nor is it likely that any sensible progress 

 will be made until the four warring tribes of Gilenos, IVIesclaros, 

 Mimbrenos and Lipanes, are destroyed by the advance of the civi- 

 lized nations from the north as well as from the south. 



A recent Mexican author, in describing the condition of Chihua- 

 hua, declares that at " present every hacienda must be converted into 

 a castle of the middle ages, every shepherd into a soldier: — proprie- 

 tors of estates enjoy no security of their possessions, and the com- 

 mon people gather themselves into villages to escape from the ex- 

 posed country in which they must become the victims of the blood- 

 thirsty savages and robbers from the wilderness." 



