Chap. XII. DISAPPEAEIXG EIVEE. 399 
direction to fire. The plain in which this lake lies is sur- 
rounded by steep and mostly bare mountains. Pine forests 
are said to exist in the valleys of the western chain. Alto- 
gether this spot is remarkably characteristic of some of the 
peculiar modifications of North-Mexican nature. 
We arrived by dawn the next morning at the Plan de 
Alamos, a well-watered grassy plain, most grateful to our 
eyes, surrounded by steep and bare mountains. A brook as 
clear as crystal, and bordered by yellow mimulus in blossom, 
flowed through the rich grass. The country round, not 
yet revived by the summer rains, still looked grey and 
dead, in the midst of which this watered plain lay like a 
green island. I followed the brook for about 500 paces, and 
came to two large circular basins in which the springs 
bubbled up. 
Passing over a dry and dusty plain, on a higher level, 
we came into a green meadow valley bordered by shady 
trees, through which a rapid mountain stream flows. The 
village of El Carmen, near which some silver mines were 
formerly worked, lies contiguous to it. One of the mills, 
with its great waterwheel in good preservation, and smelt- 
ing works, still remain. These mines are said to be by no 
means exhausted, but they share the fate of so many of the 
mines in this region. The mountains around are bare, but 
the sierras to the west appear to be covered with wood. 
This valley would be a desirable and peaceful abode, were 
it not for the dangerous vicinity of the Apaches who haunt 
the adjacent mountains. The river breaks on the north- 
east, through a narrow cleft from the valley, into a plain in 
which poplars and willows mark its course till it disappears. 
The place is called Punta del Agua — end of the water. It 
was here that we received the intelligence of Santa Ana's 
elevation to the presidency. 
