358 



CLIMATE PUEBLO INDIANS. 



The climate of New Mexico differs of course in the higher 

 mountainous parts from the lower valley of the Rio Grande ; but, 

 generally, it is temperate, constant and healthy. The summer heat, 

 in the valley of the river sometimes rises to near 100° Farenheit; 

 yet the nights are always cool, pleasant, and refreshing. The 

 winters are longer and severer than in Chihuahua, for the higher 

 mountains are always covered with snow, while ice and snow are 

 common in Santa Fe, though the Rio Grande is never sufficiently 

 frozen to admit the passage of horses and vehicles. The sky is 

 generally clear and the atmosphere dry. Between July and October 

 rain falls ; but the wet season is not so constant or regular as in the 

 Southern States of the Mexican Republic. Disease seems to be 

 very little known except in the form of inflammations and typhoidal 

 fevers during the winter. 



INDIAN PUEBLO, OR VILLAGE. 



Between the Indians and the whites, — except perhaps on the 

 naciendas — there still continues the same old rancorous feeling 

 which generated the general insurrection narrated in the historical 

 part of this work. The Pueblo Indians live always isolated in 

 their villages, cultivate the soil, raise some stock, and are generally 

 poor, frugal, and sober. These various tribes, of which a large num- 

 Der still exist, are reduced to probably about seven thousand souls. 



