TO DELAWARE CREEK. 
99 
October Slsif. Struck tents and left camp at 7 o’clock, 
following a northwesterly direction, keeping near the 
Pecos, the course of which we could occasionally trace 
by the rushes which grew on its banks. The country 
continues exceedingly barren and destitute of trees or 
shrubs, except the thorny chapporal, which generally 
grows on desert spots. A short grass appears here and 
there, but is now completely dried up, affording but 
little nourishment to the animals. Beautiful yuccas 
were seen in many places, seeming to thrive in the 
barren soil. Our constant companion, the prickly pear, 
with other varieties of the cactus family, were con- 
tent, too, to flourish in these dreary abodes. 
The only living creatures seen to-day were a few 
blackbirds sitting on the mezquit bushes, so near the 
road that one might have struck them with a cane, 
and a herd of antelopes. The latter bounded before 
us, and were lost to view before our hunters could 
surround them. The ground beneath us seemed 
to afford habitations for various burrowing animals, 
judging from the numerous holes seen by the road 
side ; but we had no time or means to discover what 
they were. I presume however that they were the 
habitations of ground rats and mice, coyotes, polecats, 
moles, rabbits, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and other reptiles. 
As there are no rocky ledges, no thick bushes, or 
decayed logs or stumps in which these animals can 
burrow, they must resort to the earth ; hence the vast 
number of holes which are seen in all such barren and 
desolate regions. Every animal here named I have 
myself seen, at various times, enter or make its exit from 
subterranean abodes. After some difficulty we found 
