TO EL PASO. 369 
usual this morning, to give the mules a chance to feed. 
Near us were some walls of old stone buildings, where 
a number of stone arrow-heads, and clippings of jasper, 
flint, and obsidian were found, showing that here had 
been a work-shop of the natives. 
A few weeks previous, a party of four Americans 
was here surprised and surrounded by a band of some 
15 or 20 Apaches. The men were armed with rifles 
and pistols, which enabled them to keep the savages 
at bay. Whenever the latter exposed themselves, the 
Americans gave them a shot, and killed, as they be- 
lieved, several. After being thus encompassed for three 
days, protected in a measure from the arrows of the 
enemy by a little wall which they raised, and after 
they had all been wounded, one of their number crept 
out at night and made his way to Correlitos, where he 
applied for relief. It was granted; but they were 
compelled to pay $500 for it. 
I ascended a hill near our camp, from which I could 
trace the course of the Santa Maria, by the line of 
trees along its banks. A broad plain extended for 
many miles on either side without a tree or a shrub. 
Our course continued north-east, without change, 
over the same level plain we had been traversing, of 
clay or gravel, with occasional patches of grass and a 
few mezquit bushes. Passed some holes of rain-water, 
where we stopped to water our animals. The hills and 
mountains, which here and there rose up from the plain, 
were quite picturesque, the conical and pyramidal forms 
prevailing with the hills; while the mountains, which 
were from 1500 to 2000 feet high, presented the most 
fantastic outlines, resembling castles, domes, and min- 
VOL. I1—24 
