314 VIEW OF SOCORKO. Book II. 
near Fort Conrad and Valverde, a semicircular and per- 
pendicular precipice toward the bottom of the valley, con- 
sists of a basaltic rock, partly dense and partly porous, 
with numerous grains of Olivin, and a white chalky filling 
or coating of many of the cavities — -a substance which I 
have not been able to subject to further examination. 
Upon the surface of the masses of lava spread over the 
alluvial soil of the valley, more recent alluvial deposits of 
pebbles, gravel, and sand have been deposited. 
The bottom land at the foot of this hill has a vigorous 
vegetation of tall grasses and various shrubs, between 
scattered poplars. The soil is highly fit for cultivation. 
One of the most beautiful sections in this neighbourhood 
is the Valverde bottom, where a small town of the same 
name formerly stood. Were it not, like the rest of the 
valley, exposed to the attacks of the Indians, this would 
be one of the most eligible spots for a settlement that I 
have seen in the course of my American wanderings. At 
the time of our passing, only one North American resided 
there, with a few Mexican servants. The land did not 
belong to him, but he had taken possession of it. 
One of the many interesting scenes of landscape which 
the valley of the Kio Grande presents to the traveller, is the 
view from the hills below Parida, on to the opposite side of 
the valley, with the town of Socorro lying at the foot of high 
mountains. The road on the hill runs close to the edge of a 
steep precipice, at the foot of which the Rio Grande — its bed 
half filled up with grey sandbanks — winds between poplars 
and willows, through extensive meadows. On the limit of 
the latter, indicated in the distance by the sharp line of an 
irrigation canal, lies the town, with its flat roofs ; and behind 
it rises the mountain — bare of trees from the base to the 
summit — in terraces, one above another, and supported 
