American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-09-05

3ta For the Anierican Telegraph. !s
NOTES ON NEW fMEXICO---No. i21.
x~'J D-N W. y 1'111-~- - w. -
144 by HENRY HARDY! hma l.a a

IA
| >t+ ny HENRY HARDY. 5taa "A a
The night we spent on the wet plain south
Of Cara Colorado was quite aosharp one, for
my ascending breath congealed upon the roof
Of the tent like snow, and the stubbed roots of
the close-nipped grass crackled under tAcmea-
sured tread of our nighH-sentinel, as his foot
passed within few inches OF my ears But
the succeeding day was exquisitely fine and bra
cling, and considerable portion Of it was con-
sumsd .thqugh not to the, delay Of the train train
IN the pursuit of such wild geese, sand-hill
cranes, ducks, brant teal, So, as this portion
Of the river offered to the exertions of the
sportsman. We made an easy day of it, as in
deed it was we'll we should, for we had to ira
| verse a. good deal of sandy and loose gravel
road, that made the pulling quite severe, Much
of the, way afforded pleasant prospects, and
here and there ravishing tastes Of river and
mountain scenery. We passed many small col
lections ofbdWellings, the principal being La
JOya de Cebolleta, or more commonly La Joya,
| pronounced La Hoya,) around which much
labor must have been expended in former days,
for the irrigable lowrgrounds are cut up into
gardens, surrounded with adobe walls, and
well. supplied with, acequias.r From Peralta
down, no sign of any American settlement is to
| be found nor do i believe that even a single
stray American could be flushed on the east
side Of the river from Peralta to Socorro; the
population being almost wholly Mexican, with
very few Indians intermixed About half
an hour before getting to La IJoyita, the place
of our destination for the evening, we passed
along at the foot Of range of high, rounded
bluffs, which would here meet, but for the
passage Of the river, similar range from the
l A,s So tbaya ,o 81 60,
road to pass, skimming the waters edge. /
was much delighted with the scenery at this
point; it was as wild as nature in q savage cline
| could well make it, but in that wildness there
dwelt tastefulness of abandon most artistically
charming. AT this spot one of the names OF
the river, the Rio Bravo, strongly suggested
itself to my mind as the most appropriate, for its
waters cutting their way through what was once
q mountain barrier, and streaked with unequal
turbidness, rolled and gurgled over the shifting
sands with all an Indians impetuosity Sand
cranes, teal, sandpipers and curlew enliyened
| the scene with their various manners Of rising,
screaming flying aud alighting, filing the fullest
demand of the gazer's eye and mind. Standing
ut the precise point of the rivers narrowest
passage, the hanking heights diyerge to the
bright like the arms from the angle of the letter
Nv the space betweenlbeing q level clothed with
spots of grass and patches of salitre, whilst the
far distance meits away behind the western
wall of the Del Norte. Casting round to the
left, the eye rests upon two shaggy masses
standing against the western sky, inspiring the
| full soul with thoughts of might and mystery.
| Before them rests tangled net of cottonwood
forest, edging the tortuous curves that the river
makes before it finally passes the threatening
heights. At the first glance the mind questions
the little future which is to bring it to encounter
| those frowning masses, and imagination is busy
with hundred little hypotheses as to whom and
what the recesses of their hirsute crags conceal
| But our road turns little to the left, and
| before us CLEANS dwelling embosomed in an
orchard of noble fruit t-trees, rich with autumnal
| tints; hope is alert visions of feast Of un-
wonted good things fit before the fancy, for
| we appear to be approaching real oasis in
| the desert Time and wheels roll on the we'll
packed orchard widens; the golden tints, that
glittered like tributes Of Pomona, become con
verted into yellow leaves thinly scattered over
ancient cottonwoods, and highwrought expec-
tation bushes and sinks away before the harsh
features of disappointment. We gain La Joyita,
however, and there we stop, having accom-
plished twenty -four and half miles since start
/ ing. That Saturday evening the gente of La
1 Joyita were busy with watching the movements
| OF their Gringe visiters. We drew up our We
hicles in the main road before the village, not
without repetition Of the frequent warning to
| all hands that caution and good lookout were
| indispensable to preserve us from losses A fire
was built, around which soon collected chat
tering mass of Mexicans, eyeing with gaze in
tent the celebration of the mysteries of our
| cuisine. Such ducks, hares, or other game as
| the sport of the day had given us were offered
up to the genius of Hunger, and sundry bakings
for the next days wants concluded the culinary
labors of the night For the FIRST time ON the
| route thought my improved health would per-
| nit me TO bear my part in the necessary duty
of standing guard, and SO j slung my rifle, and
walked sentry the allotted two hours from ten
to midnight, around our four-footed and four
wheeled wealth. Strange as il might seem to
the reader it is no less true that even here, all
night long, the village dogs kept latrant re-
sponse to the baying Of the wolves that would
ever and anon come down from. the neighbor-
! ing mountain, almost within reach Of our rifles.
discovered on the following morning that had
misapprehended the way from La Joyita south
ward; il did not meet those bold mount tains, but
eloded them by still pursuing a route east of the
river, and they were chiefly on the west. But the
ascent we had TO make to attain the table-lnnd
was by q hill the most toilsome and trying we
had yet encountered, 1t was, in fact noun
tain Of deep sand, and as we slowly overcame
it we could not but commiserate our draught ami
mails, in their stern and trying work. But the
scenery that opened upon our eye-scope on the
summit Of this mesa was exceedingly grand. To
the right, across the Del Norte, stood the ada
mantine walls of the Sierra escadrou-indeed,
eternal hils-towering in some of their peaks
perhaps FIVE thousand feet. Close to their
eastern base runs the river, lined with beauti-
ful cottonwood NOTES, whose roots are fed by
patches Of capital soil. Along here the little
towns Of Pulsidefa and Limitar nestle, present
ing, from the heights Of the opposite table-land
on the east, most picturesque and soul-quiet-
ing aspect SO far as looks CO. the valley of
the Rio Grande here suggests thoughts Of Eden;
for magnifcenoe, grandeur, beauty and soft
ness combine in mount tain and valley, river and