5° 
CA VE AND CLIFF D WELLERS. 
the true stream ; but the Piedras Verdes 
is the more important, as its waters are 
perennially replenished by branches 
which rise in the never-failing springs 
of the sierras to the west. At Casas 
Grandes we left the river and struck out 
inland for the little Mormon colony on 
the Piedras Verdes River, a distance of 
some twenty or twenty-five miles. Like 
all other distances in this part of Mex¬ 
ico, there is not a sign of civilization 
between, not even a camping place, al¬ 
though the country traversed is a fine 
one for cattle grazing, with numerous 
beautiful valleys where farms could be 
made remunerative, and where three or 
four dozen houses ought to be seen if 
a tenth part of the country’s resources 
were developed. As we crossed stretch 
after stretch of beautiful prairie, watered 
