The traders at once entered into the spirit of this meritorious financial scheme, by excluding all coarse and weighty articles from their cargoes, and prosecuting the trade with huge vehicles, drawn by nearly a dozen mules; till his Excellency found it expedient to abandon his experiments, and return to the established system. The amount of duties collected annually at the port of Santa Fé is from fifty to eighty thousand dollars, of which, according to Mr. Gregg, about one half is received by the government, and the other adheres to the pockets of the officers of the customs.

We have spoken of this commerce as already in existence, and, from some statements in the public papers, we suppose that it is renewed. It is well known, however, that, owing to the murder of a respectable citizen of New Mexico by a lawless band, partly from Texas, and partly from our own frontier, and to an expedition undertaken by Texas, which the Mexican government chose to consider as proceeding from the United States, the ports of New Mexico and Chihuahua were closed by a decree of Santa Anna, early in the last year. Whether this decree is now rescinded or not, it obviously cannot long continue; the people of New Mexico will probably not be slow to calculate the value of an union, which makes them suffer for the evil deeds of others. Mr. Gregg gives us some interesting details, showing the extent to which this trade has been prosecuted within the last twenty-two years. The value of the merchandise transported in 1843 is estimated at 450,000 dollars; this sum being its cost in the Atlantic cities. In addition to the cost of freight and insurance to Independence, a further investment, equal, perhaps, to one fourth part of the original amount, was required to cover the expense of transportation to Santa Fé. This merchandise belonged to thirty proprietors, a majority of whom were New Mexicans; several of these having engaged in the trade within the last few years, and probably enjoying some advantages which are denied to foreigners. Two hundred and thirty wagons, and three hundred and fifty men, were employed in the transportation; the actual cost of which may be inferred from the fact, that freighters are to be found on the Missouri frontier, who will undertake to convey goods to Santa Fé for ten or twelve cents a pound, and from Santa Fé to Chihuahua, for six or eight cents

more.

The gross amount of the sales has rarely exceeded

fifty per cent. advance on the cost of the merchandise, giving a profit to the trader of between twenty and forty per cent.; sometimes, however, the profit has been less than ten per cent., and there have been instances, in which adventures have been attended with positive loss. Within the last thirteen years, no trader has been killed by the Indians, and few animals have been stolen from the caravans. There is little reason to doubt, that a good understanding with the government of Mexico might place this commerce on a footing of benefit and importance to both countries; the only reason why it has maintained itself so long, in the face of the advantages enjoyed by British merchants in the Mexican seaports, is, that a preference is universally given to goods of American manufacture.

The geographical position of New Mexico is not favorable to that progress in the arts of life, which results from free communication with other states. It is surrounded by barriers, presenting far greater obstacles to the traveller than the broadest sea; chains of mountains and desert prairies extend on every side but that which looks towards Chihuahua, from which it is divided by a wilderness extending nearly two hundred miles. Water communication there is absolutely none; not a single navigable stream is to be found even the Rio del Norte, during the greater portion of the year, has hardly water sufficient for bark canoe, and is obstructed by shoals and rapids for more than a thousand miles below Santa Fé. Opposite Taos, this river runs for a space of fifteen miles, with a rapid current, through a deep chasm, whose walls rise on each side in frightful precipices, from the verge of which it requires the firmest nerve to look down without dismay. From its source in the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, an extent of more than two thousand miles, it is not navigable for more than a tenth part of the distance. This great disadvantage of position is in some degree balanced by the clearness of the sky, and the salu- . brity of the climate; but the benefits of these are not enjoyed by a very numerous population; the whole number of inhabitants, Creoles, mixed Creoles, and Pueblos, being estimated by Mr. Gregg at about seventy thousand, or about one to every three square miles of territory; of these, the city of Santa Fé contains about six thousand. Agriculture, owing to the necessity of frequent irrigation, is princi

pally confined to the borders of the few streams where water can be found throughout the year; nor can it be expected to flourish, in the absence of the means of transportation. The principal wealth of the proprietors consists in their extensive flocks and herds, which are maintained in excellent condition by the pasturage upon the elevated table-lands.

Under a different government, the mines of New Mexico might become important, as they appear to have been in former times; but the aversion generally entertained towards foreigners is such, that no aid can be derived from abroad to work them, and the natives are too ignorant to do it with much profit. No silver mines have been wrought within the last century; and the present product of the gold mines is quite small. There are ruins, however, which indicate that it has not been always so; those of La Gran Quivira, about one hundred miles south of Santa Fé, are the remains of a city, evidently far superior in extent and opulence to the present capital. Walls, particularly those of churches, built of hewn stone, a material which finds no place in the existing architecture of New Mexico, still stand erect in silence and desolation; and cisterns and remains of aqueducts, through an extent of eight or ten miles, show that the supply of water must have been obtained from the surrounding mountains, the nearest source from which it could have been derived. Some have regarded these as the remains of an aboriginal city; but Mr. Gregg, with apparent reason, supposes them to be of Spanish origin, and to have been indebted for their superiority to the neighbourhood of a productive mine. Some traditional accounts render it probable, that the city was depopulated in 1680, when a general insurrection took place of the native tribes against the Spaniards. Lead of an inferior quality is also found, copper in considerable quantity, and iron in abundance. Mr. Gregg gives the following account of the salinas, or salt lakes:

"Near a hundred miles southward from the capital, on the high table-land between the Rio del Norte and Pecos, there are some extensive salt-ponds, which afford an inexhaustible supply of this indispensable commodity, not only for the consumption. of this province, but for portions of the adjoining departments. The largest of these Salinas is five or six miles in circumfer ence. The best time to collect the salt is during the dry season, when the lakes contain but little water; but even when flooded,

salt may be scooped up from the bottom, where it is deposited in immense beds, in many places of unknown depth, and, when dried, much resembles the common alum salt. The best, however, which is of superior quality, rises as a scum upon the water. A great many years ago, a firm causeway was thrown up through the middle of the principal lake, upon which the carretas and mules are driven, and loaded with salt still dripping with water. The Salinas are public property, and the people resort to them several times a year, in caravans, for protection against the savages of the desert in which they are situated. Although this salt costs nothing but the labor of carrying it away, the danger from the Indians, and the privations experienced in an expedition to the Salinas are such, that it is seldom sold in the capital for less than a dollar per bushel. On the same great plain, still a hundred miles further south, there is another Salina of the same character."

We pass over the account given by our author of the usages and manners of the present population of New Mexico, in order to turn to his description of the Pueblos, or villages composed of descendants of the native tribes, who have adopted the religion of their conquerers. At the time of the conquest, they are believed to have been quite numerous, occupying at least a hundred villages; but the number of their villages is now reduced to twenty. They are a sober and industrious race, given to few vices, except such as they have borrowed from the Spaniards, by far the best horticulturists who are to be found in the country, and many of them owners of large numbers of horses and cattle. Their present number is believed not to exceed ten thousand. Each Pueblo is governed by a cacique or gobernadocillo, chosen by the inhabitants, but receiving his commission from the governor of New Mexico. Whenever any public business is to be transacted, the principal chiefs of the Pueblo are convened by the cacique, usually under ground, and all questions are decided by vote. Their proceedings are kept profoundly secret; a good device for protecting the meeting from the infliction of interminable speeches. All subjects appertaining to the police of the village, and the preservation of morality and order, are within their jurisdiction. To them also belongs the right of electing a capitan de guerra, or commander, who is expected to defend the public interests alike in the council-chamber and the field. The people,

though not deficient in bravery, have no strong passion for war; such an inclination could hardly exist in connection with their habitual industry; but when engaged in hostilities, they are said to be ferocious and cruel, not, however, beyond the fashion and example of their Mexican neighbours. Since the period of the conquest, they appear to have degenerated; in the arts, the manufacture of cotton and woollen for example, they are inferior to their ancestors, as well as to the tribes that still retain their liberty.

Mr. Gregg devotes a considerable portion of his work to an account of his visit for commercial purposes to the department of Chihuahua, and its places of most prominent. interest. This, with a geographical account of the prairies, and a general description of the Indians of the frontier and the prairies, occupies his second volume. The following account of a part of his Chihuahua expedition will give the reader an idea of his style :

"About twelve miles south of Carrizal there is one of the most charming warm springs, called Ojo Caliente, where we arrived the next day. It forms a basin some thirty feet long by about half that width, and just deep and warm enough for a delightful bath at all seasons of the year. Were this spring (whose outlet forms a bold little rivulet) anywhere within the United States, it would doubtless be converted into a place of fashionable resort. There appears to be a curious phenomenon connected with this spring. It proceeds, no doubt, from the little river of Cármen, which passes within half a mile, and finally discharges itself into the small lake of Patos before mentioned. All the water of this stream disappears in the sand several miles above the spring; and what medium it traverses in its subterranean passage to impart to it so high a temperature, before breaking out in this fountain, would afford to the geologist an interesting subject of inquiry.

"After fording the Rio Cármen, which, though usually without a drop of water in its channel, we now found a very turbulent stream, we did not meet with any object particularly worthy of remark, until we reached the Laguna de Encillinas. This lake is ten or twelve miles long by two or three in width, and seems to have no outlet, even during the greatest freshets, though fed by several small constant-flowing streams from the surrounding mountains. The water of this lake, during the dry season, is so strongly impregnated with nauseous and bitter salts, as to render it wholly unpalatable to man and beast. The most