18 
DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 
course, silent and slothful. The rocks on both sides were cut down vertically, so as to render it 
impossible to clamber down even a foot. * * The rocks were highly ferruginous sandstone, 
rusty and blackened by oxidation, and harmonized well witli the dark green foliage of the cedar. 
Latitude 35° 50" 43'; longitude 104° 10' 19". 
August 30.—In our journey to-day we have been forced to bear strongly towards the east, 
in order to avoid the deep gullies which, in rainy weather, serve to drain the elevated plain 
upon which we now found ourselves ; for, on looking to the south, we saw it suddenly break off, 
and the eye plunged into an ocean of mist floating over a prairie of indefinite extent far below, 
now and then pierced by the tops of seeming islands whose summits, on a level with our feet, 
had once formed an integral portion of this plain. Here the river escapes from the jaws of the 
canon, where the rocks are piled up to the height of GOO feet.:', Being everywhere covered with 
a dease growth of timber, they present very much the appearance of rising mountains. * * * 
The valley of the Canadian, four or five hundred feet below, lay spread out to the breadth of twelve 
or fifteen miles, roughened by isolated ledges of rock and curiously shaped buttes, being bounded 
on the opposite side by cliffs scarcely discernible. * * * Continuing our journey, and con¬ 
stantly forced by the nature of the country still further from the river, we reached a passable 
camping ground in the bottom of a small ravine, * * having made a march of twenty-two 
miles. We found here plenty of grapes and plums, the latter not yet fully ripe. This country 
abounds with timber, and on an elevated ground to the east of us is a fine grove of timber. * * 
August 31. (Valley of Utah creek.)—As we found ourselves getting still further from the 
routs we wished to pursue, * * we resolved to attempt the descent. * * Having cleared 
the loose fragments of rock from an inclined slope of 150 feet in length, which terminated in a 
shelf, and from which we thought to find a winding path to the bottom, * * the wagons, 
by means of ropes, were let down. * * * The stream we first struck was the Arroyo de los 
Yutas, or * * Salt creek. That which we finally encamped on was a tributary to it. The 
Sandy plain over which we had just passed was strewn with numerous flowers, which indicated 
a change of soil. * * Latitude 35° 41' 56".6 ; longitude 103° 45' 5". 
September 1. (Utah creek.)—Before we had proceeded far we found a rapid running stream. 
* * * The valley, though sandy, appeared fertile. * * A grove of large cotton-wood, 
surrounded by a natural meadow of fine tall grass, made our camp one of the best we had 
found. * * To the south the beautiful valley of the Canadian spread out, covered with scat¬ 
tering “ buttes.” * * A heavy line of timber marked the course of the river itself, and we 
judged that we were still twelve miles distant from it. * * 
September 2. (Junction of Utah creek with the Canadian, five miles west of the mouth of 
Tucumcari creek.)—We are now in a shady grove of buttonwood, * * mingled with cotton¬ 
wood. Since we left the Canadian, at the “ El Vado de Piedras,” it has increased to seventy 
or eighty feet in width, with a deep and very rapid current, so that we could scarcely keep our 
feet whilst bathing. The bottom in which we encamped is everywhere covered with various 
species of cactus. * * * Among the sylva, the hackberry * * is quite common, and we 
observed for the first time an extensive grove of the Pride of India, * * a tree gifted with 
a beautiful form and dense foliage, not more than thirty feet in height. * * The trees were 
everywhere loaded with heavy masses of grape-vines, * * which afforded the whole camp a 
great abundance of fruit. * * * At this place is what is called the “ Spanish Crossing,” 
where the people of New Mexico pass with pack-mules on their way to and from the Comanche 
country. Latitude 35° 20' 59" ; longitude 103° 29' 38". 
September 3. (About eight miles east of Tucumcari creek.)—We commenced following the 
Goonlpa, (Canadian,) meeting with scarcely any obstructions, although the road was strewed 
with the broken axletrees of the Spanish carts that had preceded us. On the way we found 
quantities of luscious plums. * * * We camped in the Canadian bottom again, near an 
old Spanish camp. * * 
September 4. —The trail led us through four or five miles of high and rounded sand-hills, 
