342 JANOS TO CORRELITOS, 
in two weeks cleared three hundred dollars. He made 
his bargains beforehand, as he told us, and had just un- 
dertaken the case of a man who was to pay him $150 
if he gave him relief, and $300 if he effected a cure. 
He seemed quite sanguine of getting the latter sum. 
August 8. A horse died last night from the bite 
of a rattlesnake received three days before. We start- 
ed this morning, pursuing a course south-east by east 
across an open and level plain about 12 miles in width, 
and of a desert-like character, which it assumes imme- 
diately after leaving the river. In one instance, I 
noticed a patch of grama grass half a mile in width, 
extending across the plain as far as the eye could reach. 
This desert, or plateau, is but little elevated above the 
bottom lands of the river, and is composed of a 
fine gravel. The bottom lands along the San Miguel 
are fertile, and yield abundant crops of wheat, corn, 
and the usual products of the country; although, at 
present, much of this fine soil has been suffered to run 
waste, on account of the hazard of cultivating it. 
There was formerly much stock raised here; but so 
completely have the Indians got possession of the 
vicinity, that there are not horses and cattle enough 
left to cultivate the soil. 
The road continued excellent, and the train made 
good progress. On our left I noticed the course of 
the river winding across the plain, marked by a long 
line of cotton-woods. Crossing this plain, we passed 
around the base of some gravelly hills, and then con- 
tinued in a more easterly direction over a similar pla- 
teau for ten miles, which brought us to Correlitos, a 
town standing on the eastern bank of the San Miguel, 
or Casas Grandes River, as it is called here. 
