352 THE CHIEF, BAJO-EL-SOL. Book II. 
enmity of these two nations to oppose the one to the other. 
The history of these Indian wars, in which the civilized 
or half-civilized population of the country is involved, is full 
of interesting episodes, which would furnish rich materials 
for the pen of a Cooper. When Colonel Langberg visited 
the Southern Comanches who inhabit the Steppes, known 
by the name of the Bolson de Mapimi, the tribe was com- 
manded by an old woman, called by the Mexicans " the 
Generaless of all the Comanches." The eldest son of this 
Indian princess was known in Mexico by the name " Bajo- 
el-Sol," or " Under-the-Sun." He had raised himself above 
the level of his tribe, and had he lived would have been its 
reformer. He considered his promise to the Government 
of Chihuahua, to fight the Apaches wherever he met with 
them, as a sacred pledge. Upon an expedition which — 
accompanied by some few young warriors of his tribe — he 
undertook to discover the position of the enemy, he came 
unawares, in the first dawn of the morning, upon a rancheria 
of the ApacheSj of the tribe of the Espejos. They were 
not remarked, and the companions of the young hero urged 
him to retreat. But this was not his intention. "I have 
given my word to destroy the Apaches," he said, "and 
Bajo-el-Sol will never break his word." Hereupon he 
raised the war-cry of his tribe ; six of his companions fol- 
lowed him, and like wild beasts they broke into the Apache 
village, cutting down everything before them, and spreading 
death and terror around, till they had all fallen themselves. 
Such events as these are quickly made known throughout 
Mexico by the captives escaping from these tribes ; and the 
Mexicans themselves are so conscious of their Indian origin 
that they take pride in all deeds of Indian valour. I have 
remarked at least that such events are related with much 
satisfaction. After the death of Bajo-el-Sol, his brother, 
