TO EL PASO. 
121 
found in the bail or handle of the tin kettle which 
held our provisions. This, being doubled and driven 
through the hole previously filled by the bolt, kept it 
in its place, while the tongue was supported by cords. 
By careful driving, and relieving the weight of the 
carriage by alighting when going over bad places, 
we got along tolerably well. 
I regretted that we were not able to spend more 
time in this interesting Pass, the grandeur of which 
would, under any other circumstances, have induced 
us to linger ; but we had too much at stake to waste a 
single hour. Many new forms of cacti were seen 
here; and upon emerging from it, we observed in 
quantities the fouquiera (I know no other name for 
it) covering the gravel knolls. This singular shrub 
throws up from just above the surface of the ground 
numerous simple stems, eight or ten feet high, armed 
with sharp hooked thorns. 
On reaching the summit of the line of hills, which 
completely surround the Guadalupe range on the 
western side, we looked down upon a broad plain, 
stretching out as far as the eye could reach. The 
Sacramento Mountains, which are but the continuation 
of the Guadalupe range, extend from east to west for 
a distance of more than a hundred miles, terminating, 
like the latter, in a bold bluff, when another range 
seems to intersect them from the north. Far to the 
north-west we could see the Gornudos del Alamo like 
two great mounds rising from a vast plain, while to 
the south-west the horizon was bounded by a faint blue 
outline of mountains, with jagged tops. The plain 
appeared level from the height at which we viewed it. 
