474 
URES TO 
terday, and the country as barren and uninteresting. 
The road sides were covered with various kinds of stunt- 
ed trees and thorny shrubs, interspersed with numer- 
ous varieties of the larger kinds of cacti, some of which 
we had not before seen. Passed the ranchos of La PaL 
ma and El Pozito, and stopped at that of La Cieneguita 
for the night, fourteen leagues from our starting-place. 
The ranchos are ordinary farm houses of adobe, though 
pretty large. Each has a well, and supports more or 
less cattle and mules, according to the facilities for. 
grazing and obtaining a supply of water. These estab- 
lishments seem to be planted in the most forlorn-look- 
ing situations, where there is not a shade tree or a foot 
of cultivable ground. The whole business being the 
raising of cattle, their position is fixed solely with re- 
ference to grazing, which the cattle are said to find 
in plenty among the distant hills ; though a passer along 
the road is at a loss to conceive where an animal can 
find wherewithal to sustain life. The cattle came up 
to the rancho for water, which is generally furnished 
from wells, and is raised by the bucket and sweep, or 
by the still more primitive apparatus of a raw-hide 
bag and rope, which is worked by hand, without the 
assistance of any mechanical power whatever. 
Nothing could be obtained at these places but milk, 
and that only in the morning : I inquired for eggs 
and chickens in vain. Senor Aguilar, being well ac- 
quainted with the people from his frequent journeys 
between the two towns, was always well received and 
supplied with the best the rancho could furnish ; yet 
tortillas and milk were all that could be got even under 
these circumstances. 
