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raised by the volcano. The crater is about five or six hundred yards in circumference, and filled with a species of dwarf oak, mezquite, and cocoa-trees, which grow out of the crevices of the lava. In it is a small, stagnant lake, the water of which is green and brackish; huge blocks of lava and scoria surround the lake, which is fringed with rank shrubs and cactus. It is a dismal, lonely spot, and the ground rumbles under the tread of the passing horse. A large crane stood, with upraised leg, on a rock in the pool, and a javali (a species of wild hog) was wallowing near it in the mud.

Not a breath of air ruffled the inky surface of the lake, which lay as undisturbed as a sheet of glass, save where here and there a huge watersnake glided across with uplifted head, or a duck swam slowly out from the shadow of the shrub-covered margin, followed by its downy progeny.

"I led my horse down to the edge of the water, but he refused to drink the slimy liquid, in which frogs, efts, and reptiles of every kind were darting and diving. Many new and curious water-plants floated near the margin, and one, lotus-leaved, with small, delicate tendrils, formed a kind of net-work on the water, with a superb crimson flower, which exhibited a beautiful contrast with the inky blackness of the pool. The Mexicans, as they passed this spot, crossed themselves reverently, and muttered an Ave Maria; for in the lonely regions of the Mal Pais, the superstitious Indian believes that demons and gnomes, and spirits of evil purposes have their dwellingplaces, whence they not unfrequently pounce upon the solitary traveller, and bear him into the cavernous bowels of the earth; the arched roof of the prison-house resounding to the tread of their horses as they pass the dreaded spot, muttering rapidly their prayers, and handling their amulets and charms to keep off the treacherous bogles who invisibly beset the path.

"The surrounding country is curiously disturbed, and the flow of the molten lava can easily be traced, with its undulations, and even retaining the exact form of the ripple as it flowed down from the crater. Hollow cones appear at intervals like gigantic petrified bubbles, and extend far into the plain. Some of these, in shape like an inverted cup, are rent, and present large fissures, while others are broken in two, one half only remaining, which exhibit the thickness of the shell of basaltic lava to be only from one to three feet."

He reached Durango on the fourth. This he describes as a picturesque city, with two or three large churches, and some government buildings, fair to the eye but foul within," with a population of eighteen thousand, "seventeen thousand of whom are rogues and rascals." It was during

VOL. I. NO. III. NEW SERIES.

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his visit in dread and expectation of an Indian invasion.

"Some five hundred Camanches were known to be in the vicinity toward the north-east; so, after a fanfaron of several days, and high mass in the church for the repose of those who were going to be killed, &c., the troops and valientes of the city, with beating drums and flying colors, marched out to the south-west, and happened to miss 'los barbaros.' However, it saved them a sound drubbing, and the country

the valientes who would have been killed."

The inhabitants of Durango and Chihuahua live in perpetual similar alarms. Beyond the city of Durango to the north and north-west, stretch away the vast uncultivated and unpeopled plains of Chihuahua, the Bolson de Mapimi, and the arid deserts of Gila. In the oases of these, the wild and hostile Apaches have their dwelling-places, from which they continually descend upon the border settlements. and haciendas, sweeping off the herds of horses and mules, and barbarously killing the unarmed peasantry. The Camanches, also, from the distant prairie country beyond the Del Norte and Rio Pecos, make annual expeditions into these States, and frequently far into the interior, for the purpose of procuring animals and slaves, carrying off the young boys and girls, and massacring the adults in the most barbarous manner.

The author, on leaving Mexico, concludes the chapter with some general remarks on the condition of the country, character of the people, etc., the tone of which may be guessed from the extract from his preface. We have only room for one or two paragraphs.

"The Mexicans, as a people, rank decidedly low in the scale of humanity. They are deficient in moral as well as physical organization by the latter I do not mean to assert that they are wanting in corporeal qualities, although certainly inferior to most races in bodily strength; but there is a deficiency in that respect which is invariably found attendant upon a low state of moral or intellectual organization. They are treacherous, cunning, indolent, and without energy, and cowardly by nature. Inherent, instinctive cowardice is rarely met with in any race of men, yet I affirm that in this instance it certainly exists, and is most conspicuous; they possess at the same time that amount of brutish indifference to

death which can be turned to good account in soldiers, and I believe, if properly led, that the Mexicans would on this account behave tolerably well in the field, but no more than tolerably.

"It is a matter of little astonishment to me that the country is in the state it is. It can never progress or become civilized until its present population is supplanted by a more energetic one. The present would-be repub- | lican form of government is not adapted to such a population as exists in Mexico, as is plainly evident in the effects of the constantlyrecurring revolutions. Until a people can appreciate the great principles of civil and religious liberty, the advantages of free institutions are thrown away upon them. A long minority has to be passed through before this can be effected; and, in this instance, befere the requisite fitness can be attained, the country will probably have passed from the hands of its present owners to a more able and energetic race. On the subject of government I will not touch: I maintain that the Mexicans are incapable of self-government, and will always be so until regenerated."

Whether our own unregenerate nation is called upon to propagate with the point of the bayonet, the true political faith among this benighted people, is a question, which it is to be hoped will never need to be discussed before a class of readers who do not look for their opinions to the columns of the daily newspapers.

On the road from Durango to Mapimi, the author had a little adventure with his Mexican muleteer, which may account for some of his prejudice against the nation

"Oct. 11th.-To the rancho of Los Saucesthe willows. The plains to-day were covered with cattle, and horses and mules. In the morning I was riding slowly ahead of my cavallada, passing at the time through a lonely mezquite-grove, when the sudden report of firearms, and the whistling of a bullet passing my head at rather unpleasantly close quarters, caused me to turn sharply round, when I saw my amiable mozo with a pistol in his hand, some fifteen yards behind me, looking very guilty and foolish. To whip a pistol out of my holsters and ride up to him was the work of an instant; and I was on the point of blowing out his brains, when his terrified and absurdly guiltylooking face turned my ire into an immoderate fit of laughter.

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Amigo,' I said to him, do you call this being skilled in the use of arms, to miss my head at fifteen yards?'

"Ah, caballero! in the name of all the saints I did not fire at you, but at a duck which was

flying over the road. No lo cree su mercedyour worship cannot believe I would do such a thing." Now it so happened, that the pistols which I had given him to carry were secured in a pair of holsters tightly buckled and strapped round his waist. It was a difficult matter to unbuckle them at any time and as to having had time to get one out to fire at a duck flying over the road, it was impossible, even if such an idea had occurred to him. I was certain that the duck was a fable, invented when he had missed me, and, in order to save my ammunition, and my head from another sportsmanlike display, I halted and took from him everything in the shape of offensive weapon, not excepting his knife; and wound up a sermon which deemed it necessary to give him, by administering a couple of dozen, well laid on with the buckleend of my surcingle, at the same time giving him to understand, that if, hereafter, I had reason to suspect that he had even dreamed of another attempt upon my life, I would pistol him without a moment's hesitation. Distance from El Chorro thirty-six miles."

On the 26th, at Guajoquilla, he encountered a half-starved Kentuckian, who had just been found and brought in from the sierra, where the remainder of his company were wandering without food and They were a water, if not already dead. party of Santa Fé teamsters, who had left a caravan to proceed across the country to the United States.

"According to his account, the others must long ere this have perished, for when he left them they were prostrate on the ground, unable to rise, and praying for death. In the hope of recovering some of their effects, his companion, after recruiting his strength, had started back to the spot with some Mexicans, but meeting a party of Camancbes, they had returned without reaching the place. The next day, however, some vaqueros entered the town, bearing six or seven Americans behind their saddles, and toward the evening two more were brought in, making eleven in all who had arrived. Such miserable, emaciated creatures it has never been my lot to see. With long hair and beards, and thin, cadaverous faces, with cheek-bones projecting almost through the skin, and their mouths cracked with the drought, they dismounted before my door, weak and scarcely able to stand; most of them had entirely lost their voices, and some were giddy and lightheaded with the sufferings they had endured. From their account I had no doubt that ten of their party were perishing in the sierra, or most probably had expired; for they were entirely exhausted when the last of those who had arrived left the spot where they had been lying.

After ordering my servant to make a large quantity of strong soup for the poor fellows, and providing for their immediate wants, I proceeded to the alcalde of the place, and told him the story. He at once agreed with me that some steps must be taken to rescue the sufferers if still alive, but he doubted if the people in the town would undertake the expedition, as it was known that the Indians were in the sierras, and in fact in every part, and it was a perfect miracle how the men had reached the town in safety. He also promised me that the men should not be confined, but allowed to go at large on parole, until he had communicated with the Governor of Chihuahua, and that a large room should be provided for them, where they would be at perfect liberty."

Not content with informing the alcalde, our traveller procured four or five rancheros, and went on an expedition after the lost men; but they were unsuccessful, and were obliged to return after their animals had been thirty hours without water.

The matter-of-fact manner in which all this is told is very delightful. The author does not seem to wish to make a display of his humanity or his courage, and hence, although his adventures are often hazardous, he does not offend belief. His prejudices are as open as the day, and they are not such as influence his facts. Although it is evident that he thoroughly hates and despises the Mexicans, yet he does not conceal the behavior of the alcalde in this instance, who certainly did all that he could do for the unfortunate Americans.

Chihuahua, when our author reached it, on the 8th of November, was in a great ferment on account of the expected advance of the Americans. The city contains from eight to ten thousand inhabitants. The population of the whole province is overestimated at 180,000 its area is 107,584 square miles. Not twenty square miles are under cultivation, and at least three-fifths of the whole is sterile and unproductive. At this time the American forces were encamped on the borders of the great desert. In rear of them was the American caravana of two hundred wagons of goods, which entering Santa Fé with the troops, had paid no duty there; the duty, therefore, five hundred dollars on each wagon, would have been payable to the Governor of Chihuahua, and would have been ser

viceable to the Mexicans in enabling them to raise troops.

"They were therefore ordered to remain in rear of the troops, and not to advance excepting under their escort. The commanding officer deemed it imprudent to allow such an amount of the sinews of war to be placed in the hands of the enemy, to be used against the Americans. That this was very proper under the circumstances there could be no gainsaying, but at the same time there was a very large amount of property belonging to English merchants and others of neutral nations, who were suffering enormous losses by the detention of their goods; and as no official notification had been given of the blockade of the frontier town of Santa Fé, this prohibition to proceed was considered unjust and arbitrary. My opinion, however, is, that the officer in command of the United States troops was perfectly justified in the course he pursued, knowing well the uses to which the money thus obtained would have been applied."

It is singular that Mr. Ruxton, who would certainly, from the passage here given, and indeed almost the whole of his book, appear to be a fair-minded man, and above petty national prejudice, should suffer himself to be easily led into error whenever he has occasion to speak of our brilliant victories. Thus in the passage mentioning the taking of Vera Cruz, and more especially in a paragraph we shall quote presently respecting the capture of Chihuahua, if there were any foundation for his statements, it would inevitably tend very much to diminish the lustre of our arms. We do not quote him on these points to uphold his views, but because they are the testimony of one who, in every other respect, seems to desire to be impartial. Success, in military affairs, covers a multitude of evils; the glare of glory blinds the popular eye, and the real truth of circumstances does not appear, sometimes, till after the lapse of years. A writer or speaker who should, in addressing the public in a mass meeting, or through a political journal, venture at the present time to hint aught in disparagement of any achievement of any portion of our army in this bad war, would be hissed from the stage or burned in effigy in the streets. Even those most strongly opposed to the war think themselves obliged to succumb to the popular enthusiasm, and affect more pride in our dear-bought vic

tories than they really feel. Whenever the army is mentioned, it is spoken of with all the praise that language can express; and so we go on, both parties covering it deeper and deeper with glory, till it already outshines even the glittering host that warred on Heaven.

This feeling will do more to perpetuate the war than any other cause. If it continues, it may involve our nation still more seriously hereafter. So long as the fever rages within, it will break out in one quarter or another. It would be better if, while we admit the strength of our nation's righthand, we could defer awhile rejoicing over the blows it has struck in an unjust contest. At least, let us not magnify them till our people fall into a brutish desire of striking more, merely to show how well it can hit. This is no injustice to any portion of the army. In so far as we know and believe, they all seem to have done their duty, but their success ought not to prevent us from endeavoring to satisfy ourselves fully upon the subject. Indeed, in such a war as this it should be the business of every citizen to hold our soldiers to a strict account before the tribunal of his private judgment, and see particularly, that they, none of them, go beyond their

instructions.

With these opinions, we quote Mr. Ruxton's statements for what they are worth. His account of the Mexican troops, we cannot but think, underrates their strength, and his views of what has been accomplished by ours are, it may be, wholly the result of prejudice, where they contravene our extra Picayune correspondence and official dispatches.

He left Chihuahua under an escort, which, he says,

"Consisted of two or three dragoons of the regiment of Vera Cruz, which had been several years in Santa Fé, but had run away with the governor on the approach of the Americans, and were now stationed at Chihuahua. Their horses-wretched, half-starved animals—were borrowed for the occasion; and the men, refusing to march without some provision for the road, were advanced their 'sueldo' by a patriotic merchant of the town, who gave each a handful of copper coins, which they carefully tied up in the corners of their sarapes. Their dress was original and uniform (in rags). One had on a dirty broad-brimmed straw hat, another a handkerchief tied round his head. One had

a portion of a jacket, another was in his shirtsleeves, with overalls, open to the winds, reaching a little below the knees. All were bootless and unspurred. One had a rusty sword the third a bow and arrows. Although the and lance, another a gun without a hammer, nights were piercingly cold, they had but one wretched, tattered sarape of the commonest kind between them, and no rations of any description.

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These were regulars of the regiment of Vera Cruz. I may as well here mention that, with nine hundred volunteers, marched through two or three months after, Colonel Doniphan, the state of Chihuahua, defeating on one occasion three thousand Mexicans with great slaughter, and taking the city itself, without losing one man in the campaign.

"At Sacramento the Mexicans intrenched themselves behind formidable breastworks, having ten or twelve pieces of artillery in battery, it be believed that these miserable creatures and numbering at least three thousand. Will were driven from their position, and slaughtered like sheep, by nine hundred raw backwoodsmen, who did not lose one single man in the

encounter?"

At El Paso our author found four American prisoners whom he endeavored to assist in escaping. The soil of this department is very rich, and should it ever fall into the hands of the Americans, it will soon, he says, become a thriving settlement; for the hardy backwoodsman, with his axe on one shoulder, and rifle on the other, will not be deterred by the savage, like the present pusillanimous owners of the soil, from turning it to account.

The view of the Anglo-Saxon missionary detachment under Colonel Doniphan, and the observations upon our service which follow it, deserve quoting as nearly entire as our limits will permit

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Staying at Fray Cristoval but one night, I pushed on to the ruins of Valverde, a longdeserted rancheria, a few miles beyond which was the advanced post of the American troops. Here, encamped on the banks of the river in the heavy timber, I found a great portion of the caravan which I have before mentioned as being en route to Chihuahua, and also a surveying party under the command of Lieutenant Abert, of the United States Topographical Engineers.

Provisions of all kinds were very scarce in the camp, and the game, being constantly hunted, soon disappeared. Having been invited to join the hospitable mess of the officers of the Engineers, I fortunately did not suffer, although

even they were living on their rations, and on the produce of our guns. The traders, mostly young men from the eastern cities, were fine, hearty fellows, who employ their capital in this trade because it combines pleasure with profit, and the excitement and danger of the journey through the Indian country are more agreeable than the monotonous life of a city merchant. The volunteers' camp was some three miles up the river on the other side. Colonel Doniphan, who commanded, had just returned from an expedition into the Navajo country for the purpose of making a treaty with the chiefs of that nation, who have hitherto been bitter enemies of the New Mexicans. From appearances no one would have imagined this to be a military encampment. The tents were in a line, but there all uniformity ceased. There were no regulations in force with regard to cleanliness. The camp was strewed with bones and offal of the cattle slaughtered for its supply, and not the slightest attention was paid to keeping it clear from other accumulations of filth. The men, unwashed and unshaven, were ragged and dirty, without uniforms, and dressed as, and how, they pleased. They wandered about, listless and sickly-looking, or were sitting in groups playing at cards, and swearing and cursing, even at the officers if they interfered to stop it, (as I witnessed.) The greatest irregularities constantly took place. Sentries, or a guard, although in an enemy's country, were voted unnecessary; and one fine day, during the time I was here, three Navajo Indians ran off with a flock of eight hundred sheep belonging to the camp, killing the two volunteers in charge of them, and reaching the mountains in safety with their booty. Their mules and horses were straying over the country; in fact, the most total want of discipline was apparent in everything. These very men, however, were as full of fight as game-cocks, and shortly after defeated four times their number of Mexicans at Sacramento near Chihuahua. "The American can never be made a soldier; his constitution will not bear the restraint of discipline, neither will his very mistaken notions about liberty allow him to subject himself to its necessary control. In a country abounding with all the necessaries of life, and where any one of physical ability is at no loss for profitable employment; moreover, where, from the nature of the country, the lower classes lead a life free from all the restraint of society, and almost its conventional laws, it is easy to conceive that it would require great inducements for a man to enter the army, and subject himself to discipline for the sake of the trifling remuneration, when so many other sources of profitable employment are open to him. For these reasons the service is unpopular, and only resorted to by men who are either too indolent to work, or whose bad characters prevent them seeking other employment.

"The volunteering service, on the other hand, is eagerly sought, on occasions such as the present war with Mexico affords, by young men even of the most respectable classes, as, in this, discipline exists but in name, and they have privileges and rights, such as electing their own officers, &c., which they consider to be more consonant to their ideas of liberty and equality. The system is palpably bad, as they have sufficiently proved in this war. The election of officers is made entirely a political question, and quite irrespective of their military qualities, and, knowing the footing on which they stand with the men, they, if even they know how, are afraid to exact of them either order or discipline. Of drill or manœuvring the volunteers have little or no idea. 'Every man on his own hook' is their system in action: and trusting to, and confident in, their undeniable bravery, they go ahead,' and overcome all obstacles. No people know better the advantages of discipline than do the officers of the regular service; and it is greatly to their credit that they can keep the standing army in the state it is. As it is mostly composed of foreigners- -Germans, English, and Irish, and deserters from the British ariny-they might be brought to as perfect a state of discipline as any of the armies of Europe; but the feeling of the people will not permit it; the public would at once cry out against it as contrary to republican notions and the liberty of the citizen.

"There is a vast disparity between the officers of the regular army and the men they command. Receiving at West Point (an admirable institution) a military education by which they acquire a practical as well as theoretical knowledge of the science of war, as a class they are probably more distinguished for military knowledge than the officers of any European army. Uniting with this a high chivalrous feeling and most conspicuous gallantry, they have all the essentials of the officer and soldier. Notwithstanding this, they have been hitherto an unpopular class in the United States, being accused of having a tendency to aristocratic feeling, but rather, I do believe, from the marked distinction in education and character which divides them from the mass, than any other reason. However, the late operations in Mexico have sufficiently proved that to their regular officers alone, and more particularly to those who have been educated at the much-decried West Point, are to be attributed the successes which have everywhere attended the American arms; and it is notorious that on more than one occasion the steadiness of the small regular force, and particularly of the artillery, under their command, has saved the army from most serious disasters."

Our author, in saying of the Mexicans generally that they have "not one singlə

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