Chap. IX. INSECURITY OF THE COUNTRY. 331 
named pine forest ; the ore was found on the surface in 
large lumps, and was smelted and sold without any attempt 
at separating the lead and silver it contained. Of the 
results of this crude attempt I am ignorant. 
The insecurity of the country and the narrow limits of 
my time prevented my examining into the geological struc- 
ture of the surrounding mountains, in which limestone, 
sandstone, granite, porphyry, and different metamorphic 
rocks appeared to prevail. The pebbles and fragments in 
the alluvial masses near Franklin, which I was able to 
examine close to our camping-place, were very interesting. 
They consisted of porphyry and granite, with every transi- 
tion between both ; metamorphic masses in which the 
original limestone or sandstone may still be recognized ; 
while in other cases the original nature of the rock has 
disappeared in the various grades of transition between the 
sedimentary, the plutonic, and the volcanic masses. As in 
the vicinity of Hart's Mill, I saw metamorphic masses 
among the detached fragments which contained shells and 
crystals of felspar. 
The insecurity of the country is a constant hindrance to 
the researches of the naturalist. I was by no means timid, but 
caution was so strongly urged upon me that it would have 
been folly to have disregarded it. " How are the Indians ?" 
was Mr. M.'s first inquiry on our arrival at El Paso. " Son 
malisimos ahora" — " worse than ever, " was the answer. 
Only a short time previously they had attacked the farms 
on the North American side of the stream, and carried off 
the cattle close to the houses in Franklin and Macgoffinville. 
They had also attacked several caravans near El Paso. 
Here I became acquainted with Colonel Langberg, by 
birth a Dane, but educated in Germany, and then in the 
service of the Mexican republic, commanding the troops on 
