Chap. V. HACIENDA DE LA CALABASA. 495 
which are mostly clothed with turf, oaks grow scattered ; 
whilst the higher mountains, rising in peaks of grotesque 
alpine forms, are clothed with pine forests. Some portions 
of this valley are of such grand, rich, and simple beauty, 
as for instance Tumacacori and San Xavier del Bac, that 
they would be remarkable in any part of the world. In 
some parts the green turf was enlivened by the yellow 
Mimulus : in other parts, remarkable Cucurbitacew, with 
deeply serrated leaves, run in long tendrils over the hard 
soil ; and, as if reared by the gardener according to the 
rules of his art, rise the circular masses of a magnificent 
Convolvulacea with shining leaves, and large crimson 
flowers. A plant, not unlike a Martynia, with orange 
velvet-like flowers, filled the air with a perfume of musk 
and violets combined. 
As we passed the Hacienda de la Calabasa, the first 
inhabited spot below Santa Cruz, I was invited by a 
Mexican servant into the building. In the courtyard I was 
greeted by two Germans, who inhabited this place, with 
their numerous retinue of Mexicans, Pima Indians, and 
"tame" Apaches. One of these gentlemen, M. de H., 
had been implicated in the so-called Francfort attentat of 
1832, and been obliged to leave Germany. Since that 
time he had lived in various parts of the world, and had at 
last come to Sohora from California. Here he had made 
the acquaintance of one of the most distinguished men of 
Mexico, Don Manuel Gandara, who owned this hacienda ; 
and they had joined in making an attempt to establish here 
a civilized population, in spite of the Apaches, and to in- 
troduce the breeding of sheep on a large scale, for which 
the country is peculiarly fitted. M. de H. had been 
so fortunate as to meet with another German who resolved 
to share this bold enterprise with him. Gandara, to make 
