valleys, rivers, creeks, canons, etc., which render the views truly grand.  There is sufficient woodland, plenty of pure air, and different species of game, in great abundance, playing about, and filling up the picture with life.  To use the words of romance, this does not fail to make the scenery perfect.  The trail runs through hamlets and villages, which come in at the proper distances and form great auxiliaries to the traveler, when fatigued by horseback riding; for, at most of these places, the traveler can find rest for the night, always provided that he be willing to submit to a multitude of inconveniences.

The most desirable place at which to stop, on this trail, is a town nearly midway between Taos and Santa Fe.  It is called Rio Arriba.  In this village, the traveler can obtain many comforts which are denied him even in the larger towns.  At the present time it is a very difficult matter for loaded caravans to pass direct from Santa Fe to Taos; but the United States government has taken the matter in hand and has appropriated large sums of money for making a good road between the two places; therefore, it will not be a long time before the transit will be accomplished with ease and safety.  Scattered over the country adjacent to this trail now under consideration, there are many hamlets and villages which are being greatly augmented by new settlers yearly.  Many of these have been seldom, if ever, visited by white men, and the minute geography of this tract of country is still in the embryo.  Perhaps a new El Dorado is there in store for mankind, and that some day its resources will receive an impetus and be developed by the sudden discovery of valuable mines therein.  This is no chimerical illusion; it scarcely rests upon an uncertainty; for, the mineral wealth of New Mexico, we are firmly persuaded, is still in its infancy.  To use trapper language, judging from “signs” which exist there in abundance, we shall not be surprised to hear, in time, that this territory has turned out to be a second California.  Rumors of gold, and even specimens of the article itself, are frequent in many parts of the country; but the poverty of the inhabitants keeps them from searching as they ought in order to make the discovery.  The Americans find a more profitable business in commerce and trade, therefore they but seldom indulge in speculations designed to develop the mineral wealth of the country; but nevertheless, they have faith that gold, in immense quantities, exists there, and believe that, in time, scientific men will disclose the fact and position.  We have seen quills full of gold dust which has been collected there, and we are well acquainted with men who have washed out from several streams in the northern part of the Territory, the value of two and a half dollars per diem; but, with the high prices of living, this rate of produce cannot be made to pay unless the work shall be carried on by the assistance of capital.