The country we were traversing is a vast cattle range, occupied
by the herds of Governor Terassas, of Chihuahua, who claims an
immense region. The cattle could be seen far and near, and oc-



A GLIMPSE OF MEXICO. 87

casionally a herd crossed the road ; a bull in the advance, whose
high head and long sharp horns recalled the pictures of Spanish
ball fights; then came the gaunt black-and-white, dun-and-yel-
low cows, with their calves by their sides. In thirty miles we
saw but three inhabited places; and one of them, the ranch of
Eocinillas, with its little church, lay miles away under the
shadow of the mountain. We passed near the two others. They
were virtually forts of adobe, each with its round tower pierced
with loop-holes ; near each was a corral made of bush, or poles
fastened to the cross-pieces with thongs of rawhide. A solitary
door afforded admission to the placUa; the long line of outer
walls showed no openings in the way of windows. Everything
of value — wool, hides, wheat — is kept inside the walls. It has
been so long a land of perpetual danger and watchfulness.
As darkness drew on we saw across the plain the four white
tents of the engineer party, and drove over there for supper.
