PREFACE. 
In submitting to the public an account of my explora- 
tions during the several years that I filled the place 
. of Commissioner on the part of the United States, for 
the Survey of the Boundary between the United 
States and Mexico, I have endeavored as far as pos- 
sible to confine myself strictly to what is embraced in 
the title, viz., a Personal Narrative of Explorations 
and Incidents. 
Having this idea constantly before me, I have 
admitted only such digressions as seemed absolutely 
necessary for a full understanding of the subject. 
Short descriptions of the towns visited have been 
given, as well as general remarks on the country from 
time to time. So of the botany and zoology, I have 
endeavored to keep before the reader a correct idea 
of the character of the country throughout which he 
