EL PASO. 
161 
be doubly armed. In the court room, therefore, where 
one of the most solemn scenes of human experience 
was enacting, all were armed save the prisoners. 
There sat the judge, with a pistol lying on the table 
before him ; the clerks and attorneys wore revolvers 
at their sides; and the jurors were either armed with 
similar weapons, or carried with them the unerring 
rifle. The members of the Commission and citizens, 
who were either guarding the prisoners or protecting 
the court, carried by their sides a revolver, a rifle, or 
a fowling-piece, thus presenting a scene more charac- 
teristic of feudal times than of the nineteenth century. 
The fair but sunburnt complexion of the American 
portion of the jury, with their weapons resting against 
their shoulders, and pipes in their mouths, presented 
a striking contrast to the swarthy features of the 
Mexicans, muffled in checkered sempes^ holding their 
broad-brimmed glazed hats in their hands, and delicate 
cigarritos in their lips. The reckless, unconcerned 
appearance of the prisoners, whose unshaven faces and 
dishevelled hair gave them the appearance of Italian 
bandits rather than of Americans or Englishmen; 
the grave and determined bearing of the bench ; the 
varied costume and expression of the spectators and 
members of the Commission, clad in scrapes, blankets, 
or overcoats, with their different weapons, and gene- 
rally with long beards, made altogether one of the most 
remarkable groups which ever graced a court room. 
Two days were occupied in the examination and 
trial : for one immediately followed the other. In the 
mean time, a military guard of ten men had been 
promptly sent to our aid by Major Yan Horne, the 
VOL. I. 1 1 
