METEORITE—ITS ANALYSIS BY PROF. SHEPARD. 
7 
halted the party outside the limits of the town.* Lieutenant Stoneman and myself rode in, 
and, on inquiring of the guard, found the comandante of the presidio, Captain Hilarion Garcia, 
and also the inspector of the troops of the State of Sonora, Captain Bernabe Gomez; to whom 
we made ourselves known, and, stating the object of the visit, presented them our passport. 
The party then moved through the town, and encamped about two and a half miles beyond on 
the bank of a clear running brook, with abundance of grass and wood. 
February 21.—Remained in camp.—Rest and a good feeding of corn, which we fortunately 
can obtain, will be of great service to our animals, some of them already beginning to fail. 
Tucson (properly Tuczon) is a one-storied flat-roofed adobe town of about six hundred inhabit¬ 
ants, whose sole pursuit is agriculture; the much dreaded Apaches having interfered greatly 
with their pastoral occupation. They raise chiefly corn and wheat, cultivating about three 
hundred acres of rich soil by irrigation from a stream which has its source near the mission of 
San Javier del Bac, 8.5 miles to the south; and although it flows past our camp with a depth 
of one foot, and width of six feet, its waters nevertheless disappear a short distance below the 
town, either consumed by irrigation or absorbed by the sands. At sunrise the temperature of 
this stream was 62°, while that of the air was 32°. Timber is scarce in this locality, that used 
in building, a species of pine, being found in canons and narrow gorges of the distant mount¬ 
ains ; while the cotton-wood, willow, and mezquite, of the immediate vicinity, is barely suffi¬ 
cient for fences and fires. From the summit of a conical hill about half a mile to the west of 
Tuczon, a very extended prospect is presented. On our back trail El Picacho stands near the 
horizon’s verge, with its fine proportions distinctly visibly. To the north and northeast is 
Sierra Santa Catarina, high, rugged, and with numerous spurs, extending eastward to the San 
Pedro. South of east is the gap through which we pass, bounded on the south by Sierra Santa 
Rita, which extends around to the south point. In this direction lies the valley of San Javier 
del Bac. To the southwest and west are a series of “lost mountains.” This conical hill is 
covered with angular fragments of scoriae, varying in size from that of an egg to a cubic yard, 
more or less vesicular and compact. Descending the hill, an amygdaloidal volcanic earth is 
found overlying a mass of metamorphic limestone, much contorted. At the base is found a 
coarse-grained granite, and apparently a conglomerate of all the above ingredients, decomposed 
where exposed, giving the whole a whitewashed appearance. The commandant showed us two 
specimens of a meteorite found in a canon in Santa Rita mountain, about twenty-five or thirty 
miles to the.south of Tuczon. They are both used as anvils, and were lying, one in the presidio 
or garrison, and the other in front of the alcalde’s house. That in the garrison is of a very 
peculiar form, being annular and somewhat like a signet ring of large dimensions, its exterior 
diameter being about three and a half feet, and interior about two, and weighs near 1,200 
pounds. The other piece weighs about 1,000 pounds, and has an elongated prismatic form, 
serving well the purposes of an anvil, it being partially buried, and standing nearly two feet 
above the surface of the ground. By permission of the authorities our blacksmith undertook to 
cut off some specimens for us, in which he almost entirely failed, the metal being so tough and 
hard; still, by dint of two hours’ hard work and the use of a cold chisel of the best temper, and 
a most weighty sledge, we procured a few small chippings, sufficient for the purposes of analysis. 
The fracture is crystalline, resembling that of cast-iron. It yields to the hammer, and has a 
clear ring not unlike bell-metal. 
Note. —Having submitted a specimen of the above meteorite to Professor Charles U. Shep¬ 
ard, I received from him the following, bearing date July 31, 1854, in relation to its analysis: 
“I have already so far submitted a portion of it to examination as to become fully satisfied of 
its meteoric character. It contains nickel, phosphorus, and magnesia, in addition to the iron. 
Sulphur is not thus far evinced, though probably present. I should add silver also to the list of 
ingredients. Its specific gravity is 6.66, which is rather below the average; but, most unex¬ 
pectedly, I find that its entire mass is finely amygdaloidal, with an earthy white mineral 
See “ B, ” in the Appendix. 
