256 
THE COPPER MINES TO 
was inclosed with a high wall of adobe, with regular 
bastions for defence. Being elevated some twenty or 
thirty feet above the valley, this hacienda commands a 
fine view of the country around. Yast herds of cattle 
were formerly raised here, but the frequent attacks of 
the Apaches led to the abandonment of the place. 
Some cattle which had strayed away and were not reco- 
vered at the time, have greatly multiplied since, and 
now roam over the plains and in the valleys, as wild and 
more fierce than the buffalo. Colonel Cooke, in his 
march to California, supplied his whole command with 
beef from these herds ; and the passing emigrants des- 
tined for that country, replenish their stores from the 
same source. I saw a number of these cattle when 
riding in advance of the party, but having only my 
double-barrelled gun 'and my revolvers with me, did 
not dare to shoot at them. These herds were small, 
not more than six in each, led by a stately bull. A 
wounded bull would be a serious antagonist, more so, I 
have been told than a buffalo. This establishment was 
abandoned about twenty years ago; since which time, 
no attempt has been made to reoccupy it. Such seems 
to be the case with all deserted places here ; a fatality 
or superstitious dread hangs over them, and when they 
have been left two or three years, they are not again 
inhabited. 
After watering our animals, and giving them a 
couple of hours to feed on the rich grass here, we re- 
sumed our journey, taking a westerly direction. The 
road first entered a thick chapporal of mezquit through 
which it continued four or five miles ; when we struck 
for three mountains, in a line with each other from 
