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.

On this trail to Santa Fé, there are several small Pueblos which are
inhabited by the descendants of the ancient Aztecs. These settlements,
generally, are quite thrifty, and exhibit many external appearances
of comfort. To prepare and cultivate the soil, it takes much labor
in irrigating and bestowing other farming operations upon the land in
order to bring crops to perfection. Hence these people, like the New
Mexicans, can realize from their toil but little beyond their own
subsistence. This trail, as it approaches Santa Fé, enters through