AGUA PRIETA. 
253 
had walked the whole distance through this defile, 
which is known as the Guadalupe Pass, reaching this 
point in advance. When all had come up, both men and 
animals were glad to hear the order to unhitch the 
mules and encamp for the night, which we did near a 
small rivulet, though our day’s journey could hardly 
have exceeded twelve miles. 
For the last three days we have noticed the tracks 
of several mules, all of which were shod, accompanied 
by one man on foot. They appear to have been made 
several months ago, at a time when the ground was 
wet ; and as there has been no rain, it must have been 
during the winter after a slight fall of snow. As the 
Mexicans do not shoe their mules, we believed the 
party to have been Americans ; and a close inspection 
of the print made by the man on foot convinced Colonel 
Craig that it was a soldier’s shoe, and that the party 
consisted of the seven deserters from his command who 
left in February. They took with them but six mules, 
so that the seventh had to go on foot. W e had learned 
that they had not reached Chihuahua ; and as they had 
not been seen at the settlements on the Rio Grande, the 
inference was, that they had set out for California. 
These foot prints therefore were objects of interest to 
us as we watched them from day to day. 
The canon where we are now encamped, is filled 
with walnut, oak, ash, and sycamore trees. The last 
mentioned, is quite a different tree from that known by 
the same name in the United States, and, if it would 
bear our nothern winters, would make a fine addition 
to our ornamental trees. Its leaves have a graceful 
droop, the bark is almost pure white, very clear and 
