morning of the 16th December, and being admirably mounted, I reached the Hacienda del Călăbăzāl, (my first stage,) at half-past eight.
The State of Zacatecas terminates with the ridge of hills immediately above the valley of the Calabazal; the bajada, (descent,) which is very precipitous, and covered with fragments of rock, is almost impassable for carriages, and even on horseback, occasions considerable delay. Below, a plain commences, which extends, with little interruption, as far as Mŭlērŏs, (seven leagues,) one of the most valuable Haciendas in the State of Durango. Its "Estancias" (stations) for breeding cattle are very extensive, and it possesses upon the banks of a river never entirely dry,[1] tierras de labor, which, from the command of water, might be rendered extremely productive. The "Ranchos de Mescal" alone are let for fifteen and twenty thousand dollars per annum; and from the Mezquite woods belonging to the estate, the town of Sombrerete is supplied almost entirely with fuel. But the system of management is bad; the breed of horses and mules, for which the Hacienda was once famous, has been allowed to go
- ↑ Englishmen will probably be amused at this being pointed out as a remarkable quality in a river; but those of Mexico are even more uncertain than the rivers of Spain, and there, I recollect, that on the morning when the present Queen entered Madrid, an order was issued for watering the bed of the Manzanares, lest Her Majesty should be incommoded by the dust.
