country west of the Rio San Pedro. A sort of candied preserve and
molasses, expressed from the fruit of the cereus giganteus and
agave Americana was found by our party in 1851, as we passed
through the Pinal Llano camps and among the Gila tribes, to be
most acceptable. The candied preserve was a most excellent
substitute for sugar. It is true that there are extensive wastes
to be encountered west of the Rio Grande, yet they are not
deserts of sand, but plains covered at certain seasons of the
year with luxuriant grass, exhibiting green spots and springs not
very remote from each other at all times. There is sufficient
water in the Gila and its branches for all the purposes of
irrigation when it is wanted, the streams being high during the
season most needed. The Rio Salado, a tributary of the Gila, is a
bold and far more beautiful river than the Gila itself, and, from
the old ruins now seen there, must have had formerly a large
settlement upon its banks. "To many persons merely travelling oremigrating across the country, with but one object in view, and
that the reaching their destination on the Pacific, the country
would generally present a barren aspect. But it will be
recollected that the most productive fields in California, before
American enterprise introduced the plough, and a different mode
of cultivation from that of the natives of the country, presented
somewhat similar appearance. Many believed, at first, from the
cold and sterile look of the hills, and the parched appearance of
the fields and valleys, over which the starving coyote is often
seen prowling in search of something to subsist on, that
California could never become an agricultural district, but must
depend upon her other resources for greatness, and trust to
distant regions for the necessaries of life required for her
increased population. It was natural enough, too, that this
impression should be created in those accustomed to a different