Arizona citizen., 1874-11-14
THE MARVELLOUS COUNTRY,

ume of 532 pages, illustrated. by over 100
 engravings. We have read the work at a
 single sitting, and with an interest unsur-
 passed even by the scientific fctiOnS of
 Jules Verne. The author has passed three
 years in the Marvellous Country" Of AL
 lZona and New Mexico, and his deScrip-
 tiouS, which have the marks of authen-
 ticity, are of the most picturesque, rOman-
 tic, and thrilling character. Mir COzZens
 meets and quotes men from whose lips we
 have often heard of the beautiful scenery,
 the mountain sublimity, and the mineral
 marvels which form the subject of his
 wonderful book. General GadSden, the
 American Minister, who negotiated the
 Mexican treaty, at whose pleasant planta-
 ton in South Carolina we have heard of
 the ineStimable value of the GadSden pur-
 chase; John R. Bartlett, the United States
 Commissioner 10 settle the Boundary
 Question " between Mexico and the Unit
 eG States; Sylvester MOWry, one of the
 earliest American settlers in Arizona, and
 the first to represent the Territory at Wash
 ington; J. Ross Browne, who visited the
 mlnes as United States surveyor; and Col. C. D. PoStOn, also a representative from
 Arizona at Washington, and who has liv-
 ed ill that " Marvellous Country" as man.
 ager of a great mining company; from
 each ana all of these actual "SurveyorS of
 the land " we have had the same general
 report now more fully and graphically
 given in the charming volume before us.
 We should like to give our readers a re-
 Sume of the contents of this rare work;
 but, better still, if we can only induce
 them to read it, as the perusal cannot fail
 to turn the footsteps of European travel
 CTS towards the "MarvelouS Country"
 many of whom would doubtless be in-
 clined to remain there for life, or al least
 long enough to carve their fortunes from
 the silver mountains of ArlZOna and So-
 nora. In l5l4, tWenty-twO years after the discovery of the New World by Colum bus, COrtez conquered Mexico, and found the AZtecS, as the people were then called, in
 possession of immense quantities of gold, silver, and precious stones. Hence the
 name of Fl Dorado given to the new coun
 try by the Spaniards. To the question " Where did all this treasure come from?" MOnteZuma'S only reply, even when put to the torture, was, "fr0m the Northwest" from 6 country known as CibOla, the Buff falo, far beyond the limits Ot MonteZuma's empire. The CibOla Of that day is the Ar iZOna of this, which means "the silver bearing land" No wonder that the MeXi- cans were so reluctant to cede this rich Territory to the United States for the com paratively insignificant sum Of Sl0,000,000. It is confidently predicted that the product of a single ArIZOna silver mine will reach 00,000,000 in a single year. In the mon- astery of Dolores, in Zacaiecas, there are parchment records of Father KinO, who, In the year 165S, explored th1s |" Marvel OuS Country" alone, in the interest of his church, "the Cross hIs only protection tiOn, the wilderness his only purveyOr," and found gold and silver utensils more plentiful than iron. No doubt the brave old monk followed the course of the San- ta Cruz river, in which is now the prov ince of Sonora, until he reached it's junc- tion with the Gila. Father kinO describes the people as primitive and patriarchal, whose flOcks and herds were immense, whose religion was Sun-WOrShip, and upon whose altars a flame of devotion was, and still is, always burning. From that day to this the people have changed but little, and the country still less. There are the wonderful silver mines, as rich and as in- eXhauStible as in the time of the Monte zumas; there is the "Organ Mountain," with it's forty various colored pipes gleam- ing in the sun; there are the wonderful cities of natural architecture, rlValing the work of man; the cactus tree, four feet Tn diameter, fifty feet high, the trunk huted like a COrinthian column, and bursting into bloom of indescribable splendOr at the top; and there are curious mounds, valleys, fragrant forests, flow ing streams, innumerable birds of strange bright plumage, and all the varied pro- ducts Of DatuIe and of civilization in the way of fruits, vegetables, cereals, etc. The book is rightly named. It Is, indeed, " Marvellous Country" MT. COZzenS gives us nothing particularly new in regard to the richness of the mines of Arizona and Sonora. We have had all the facts and figures in more exact form ill the official reports of Browne, Bartlett, Pumpelly and others. The laLJer auGnOf, WHO deserves to be called the Hum boldt of America, in his "Notes of Five Years Journey Round the World" is full of most valua- ble information in regard to Arizona. To. the question why these rich mines have been comparatively neglected since the acquisition of the Territory by the United States, two reasons may be given as Suffi- cient answer: The Civil war and the Apa- che Indians. The former is at an end, and the Indians are nearly all eXterminated, Cachise, the vindictive and revengeful tile tribe will soon be utterly extinct. The only way to reform an Apache is to kill him. After reading the horrible details of their cruelties, even "Quakef COmmis- | sioner" would be disposed to change hiS | policy of cOncilIation Tor one Ot eXtermin- | atiOn. Like beasts and birds of prey, rat | ,lesnakes and other venemOuS reptiles, | he sooner these peStilential "lnjins" are | improved" from the face of the earth | he better for themselves and the rest of mankind. To return to the natural won 1ers of this " Marvellous Country" Forty l miles west of the Rio Grande is the river Mim bres, which occasionally sinks and disappears in the plains, reappearing niles below. This is one of the unique wonders of the world. Then there is the 'Ojo Caliente," hot spring on top of mound 962 feet in circumIerence at the )ase, and 46 feet in height. The water Sus- aims perpetual temperature of 1850 Fah- . enheit, and when cooled is drinkable. Tor hot bathing it is wonderfully eftica-
 ious in all scrofulOus complaints. What Ln attraction for grand hotel deS lnval- desI In the Mesilla valley we have the amous Fl Paso grape, of which 8 hun Ired thousand gallons Of wine are annu- lily made, equal to the finest Port or Bur-
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