TO THE COPPER MINES. 
237 
nor any other vegetables except a little wild asparagus 
at El Paso. The want of this necessary article of food 
was therefore sensibly felt, and some of the men 
began to exhibit symptoms of scurvy. Among the 
members of the Commission the cases were few and the 
attacks slight ; but the soldiers exhibited twelve or 
fifteen cases, since leaving the coast, some of them 
very bad ones. We were well provided with such 
anti-scorbutics as citric acid, vinegar, pickles, and 
dried apples ; but they did not have the desired effect 
upon the worst cases, though they doubtless prevented 
the spread of the disease. Some plants were found by 
Mr. Thurber, which proved very palatable, and were 
eaten as long as they lasted with very good effect. 
Doctor Bigelow, the Surgeon of the Commission, ad- 
dressed me a letter on the subject of the scurvy, 
urging upon me the necessity of procuring potatoes. 
In consequence of this. Colonel Craig and myself sent 
to Santa Fe, a distance of three hundred miles, for 
them; but they were not to be had there. With the 
exception of this disease, the best health was 'enjoyed 
by every member of the Commission, during our stay 
in the region of the Copper Mines. The surveying 
partv;‘on duty on the plain,' or desert, as it may with 
more propriety be called, suffered more on account of 
the intense heat to which they^ were exposed, and the 
frequent want of water. In another respect they were 
badly off, as it was impossible to take fresh meat with 
them. My intention was to provide them with sheep, 
which could obtain a subsistence on the short grass of 
the plains or near the watering-places; but it was 
necessary to send to New Mexico for them, and they 
were not delivered in season. 
