Columbia gazette., 1853-12-10
INTERESTING LETTER FOMSO-
NORA, MEXICO.


the San Diego Herald, descriptive Of a
portion of Sonora, to which much atten-
tion is directed just now, will be found
interesting:
ALTAR, STATE OF SONORA Sept. 80, '53
1 wrote you the day after my arrival,
and promised description of the city,
which l shall be obliged to make brief
at present, as l am busy packing to-day
for trip to Guaymas, a distance ofthree
hundred and fifty miles. | shall start
in the morning. This town, the most
northern of the frontier settlements in
the State of Sonora, contains two thou
sand inhabitants. 1t is built entirely Of
adobes, bat made strong and in good
taste. The caps, columns, and sills of
the doors and windows, also the heavy
cornices and mouldings, are Of brick of
most excellent quality, laid in lime
cement. The walls Of the houses are
f.om three to four feet thick, succeed
outside. and inside with excellent plaster,
giving them very neat and solid appear
ance. The dwelling houses are very
large from one hundred and fifty feet
front, wi,h large -arched door in the
centre, communicating with the court,
which. is surrounded with store rooms
sixteen feet high. Tie arched doorway
is sufficiently large to admit carriages
and horses. The roofs are covered with
dirt, and floors are all tiled. The rooms
are generally large, and one very large
one called sola graade, is used as re-
ceptiou room. A description OF the
room slept in last night, will give you
an idea Of the whole This one is thir-
ty By sixty, seventeen feet high-the
floor raised four feet above the ground,
and payed with beautiful tiles. The
walls are splendidly painted, and the
furniture, though necessarily plain, be-
Ing Of home manufacturer j. substan-
tial and comfortable.
In the cen re ot the town. the grand
Plaza, (about four times as large as that
of San Diego on one corner Of which
is the Cathedral There is another
Plaza smaller than this, which is nsed
for bull fighting Gu feast days, which iu
this place comes off in December
Troushnut the town are numerous gar
dyn>, filled with every variety of trop-
cal fruits. Here can be seen the state
ly>date tree, with its rough trunk and
sin rular top, towering to the height Of
eighty and hundred feet; and the
p,negra,a:e, orange, lemon peach,
pear, lines, ami 4iince, are found in
the greatest abundance; and most singu-
l1r OF all, is the Virtue" which bears
ap.icots, then peaches, and lastly, .
crop OF small fruit similar to the peach,
.b. ut the size of the tlamascene plum.
i have preserved so:ne' CT the seed,
which l Will send YOU.
The town is surrounded with large
gardens or fields where corn, melons,
sweet potatoes, beans, pumpkins, and
other vegetables, are raised for the pub
lie market These grounds are irrigat-
ed from the river Altar. This place is
very quiet and orderly, ard unusually
healthy for this latitude | have now
been here one week ,and though walking
about town day and night, l have not
vet heard harsh word uttered, or seen
singl. person intoxicated. There are
two billiard saloons open here, but they
are as quiet as a ehurch-more so than
- methodist one Even the gambling
saloons are remarkably still and quiet.
strolled into the fashionable place
the "Crockiord s." OF Altar-one cyen-
ing, and was really surprised to observe
the stiffness and quiet which reigncd all
around | am the guest of the only
physician of the place, and go around
with him every day to Wit his tao pa
tients. His whole practice fo. a year
will not pay the interest on his stock of
drugs: Where can you find in the Uni
ted States SO healthy a place as this:
The fg and grape crops were garhered
some time since; the former dried and
packed in hides for the market, and the
grapes made into wine and brandy.
The rainy season sets in here in June,
and continues till October. We have
had frequent thunder showers during
the week, which keeps the atmosphere
clear and cool.
There is quite hustle in town to-day
in making preparations for an early start
in the morning to the fair at Nlagdalina,
town eighty miles southwest from here.
The party will consist Of seventy ladies
and gentlemen, all mounted on hand
some and gaily caparisoned horses.
The gentlemen all carry pack of
monte cards in their hats when they go
on an excursion Of this kind, and to their
credit be it said, they return as they
went, but not with brick in the place
Of the cards, as would generally be the
case with Yankees. These cards are
called "Stars of Fortune" You will
observe the difference between those and
the "Stars of Honor" presented by the
Napoleon of California to the lace and
button militia.
AS l shall be the only American at
the Fair, shall take it upon myself to
represent California I shall have one
/. advantage over our representative to the
] Worlds Fair at New York, as he will