by the Aztecs, was small cobble-stones which undoubtedly were mixed with mud and thus formed the structure.  Pieces of pottery, flint arrow-points; stone pipe and rude tools have been, from time to time, found on the site of the town, going to prove that the people were not wandering in their habits, but that instead, they occupied their time in farming, raising cattle and mining.  The wild Indians may have murdered the inhabitants, and then destroyed the town; or, civil war and pestilence might have caused it to become deserted, when, as a natural result, it fell to decay.  The most plausible theory to entertain is the former, as every old Mexican town of the north contains relics which could not have been designed merely in case of an emergency.  Not one of these towns in olden times was without a large well, which, in most instances, was bountifully supplied with water.  In time of peace, these extensive reservoirs were covered over and concealed from view, and therefore, but few strangers could be made aware of their existence.  On the breaking out of war, these wells were thrown open for public use, and, being located in the centre of the towns, the inhabitants escaped that danger in procuring water which necessarily would have surrounded them in case they had been obliged, as they are now, to bring it from the neighboring streams.  As time rolled on, and danger was lessened, these wells were almost forgotten, until the timber which covered them rotted and allowed their fragments and the earth to cave in, when the object of the digging these reservoirs became apparent.  It is an established fact in history, that the town of Taos once withstood a long and fearful siege, but finally escaped, as did its people, uninjured.  The besieging party, in this instance, was composed of the Indians of the plains; they were present to the number of many thousand, and were at last compelled to depart, as is supposed, in consequence of their provisions giving out.  Reasoning from analogy, it is no more than proper to suppose, that if the early settlements of the Mexicans were thus annoyed, the case of the Aztecs must have been still harder, and that being overcome by numbers, they were necessitated to succumb; and hence, were swept, by the Indians of the plains, from the face of the earth, leaving but a dim outline of their ancient grandeur.

The party found the stream very much swollen by the melting of the snows in the mountains.  When they arrived at its fording-place, notwithstanding a torrent rolled before them, the command was, of a necessity, given to cross.  There was no shrinking.  Without a single murmur, the entire command set themselves about the perilous task.  The bed of the river at this place is rocky and shelving.  At low water, these facts offer no great obstacles in crossing.  The case is very different when the torrent has reached high-water mark—­then, a single step will often plunge horse and rider into the angry waters beyond their depth.  Kit Carson boldly took the