Chap. VIII. FLETCHER'S RANCHO. 321 
the alluvial hills are of trapp, basalt, porphyry, trachyte, 
and almost every variety of quartz and chalcedony. 
We encamped for the night about a mile above Donana, 
a small village beautifully situated. The peaks of the 
Sierra de los Organos, although nearly half a day's journey 
distant, rose apparently so close behind the flat roofs of the 
houses, that they seemed to form a rocky wall immediately 
adjoining the village. 
This chain, which contains a productive silver mine, 
forms one of the most striking and interesting features of 
the scenery along the Rio Grande. It consists of a mass 
of lofty rocks whose vertical position has given it the name 
of the Organ Mountains. The central portion of the chain 
is, however, alone entitled to this name, as north and south 
of it the masses become broader and more compact. 
Fruit trees and the vine are much cultivated in this 
valley. At Donana, and afterwards at Las Cruzes, we 
bought excellent grapes, good apples, and tolerable pears. 
Wine, raisins, dried peaches and pears, form a considerable 
source of trade, and are exported from the valley of the 
Rio Grande to Chihuahua. The dried pears of El Paso 
are the best in the world. 
A large fortified house, named from its owner, Fletcher's 
Rancho, stands solitary on the road between Donana and 
Las Cruzes. An extensive estate belongs to it, but the 
owner pays more attention to trade than to agriculture, and 
the house is in fact a large store. The locality of this ma- 
gazine was, in all probability, chosen with reference to 
the smuggling trade with Mesilla. This large and pros- 
perous village lies on the other side of the Eio Grande, and 
at that period had not been sold by Mexico to the United 
States, an event which took place a few years later. But 
goods may be stored here in a lonely house with greater 
Y 
