unquestionably of great value, and must become important, more
particularly from their being situated in the neighborhood of the
contemplated railway. The tall Cereus Giganteus and Agave
Americana are found in abundance. From the latter plant the
natives make the pulque, mezcal and agua-diente; and the petahaya
or cereus, produces a fruit from which is made a very pleasant
preserve. At the Pimo and Maricopa villages are found wheat,
corn, tobaco, and cotton, besides melons, pumpkins, beans, etc.
The nature of the soil for great distances in the Gila valley is
of a reddish loam; some parts coated with a beautiful
crystallization of salt, a quarter to half an inch thick. This
seems to be more particularly the case below the Maricopa
villages and toward the Rio Salado. The cotton, of which I
procured specimens, though cultivated by the Indians in the most
primitive manner, exhibited a texture not unlike the celebrated
Sea Island cotton. Its fibre is exceedingly soft and silky, but
not of the longest staple. Large tracts of land on the Gila and
in other portions of this district, appear to possess the same
properties of soil; and where, I have no doubt, the finest cotton
will soon be extensively raised and brought to its highest state
of perfection by proper cultivation."

The climate is thus referred to by Gray:

"One of the most favorable features upon the route in the
vicinity of the 32nd degree proposed for the Pacific railway is,
its accessibility at all times, admitting of labor being
performed in the open air at each season. The nature of the
climate through Texas to the Rio Grande has already been referred
to, and from thence to the Santa Cruz valley half way to the