270 
AGUA PRIETA TO 
sent subsistence they rely entirely upon dried meat 
from the wild cattle, and pinole. Not a particle of 
coffee, chocolate, or rice was to be obtained in the 
place. On my making known to General Carrasco 
that I wished to purchase some beef and corn, he 
ordered an ox to be killed and sent to our camp in 
the morning, together with a bale containing a hun- 
dred ] 30 unds of dried beef, and eight or ten bags of 
corn, for none of which would he receive any pay. 
During the hour or two spent at his quarters he 
entered into a warm discussion with Colonel Craig on 
the battles in which the Mexican and American armies 
had been engaged in the late war, in several of which 
he had participated, and respecting all of which he 
was very well informed. He seemed to understand 
well the qualities of our general officers, and expressed 
the most unbounded admiration for several, particu- 
larly the Commander-in- Chief He did not approve of 
the plan of making General Scott President ; but said 
the United States should present him with three mil- 
lions of dollars, and give him the mission to England 
or France. 
Our camp was below the hill, about a quarter of a 
mile from the town, beneath the branches of a gigan- 
tic cotton-wood. Here we were detained four days, 
to make the necessary repairs on Colonel Craig’s 
wagons. The first day little was done. The next 
being Sunday, the mechanics would not work at all, 
even with promises of large pay ; yet they sang, and 
danced, and drank aguardiente all the afternoon and 
evening. On Monday our men took hold of the job, 
and by Tuesday night the wagons were in readiness 
