Pinar del Río

“ Their verdant sides form the background of the view from almost every point. The soil in the valleys{267} between the numerous spurs is exceedingly fertile. These lands were peaceably tilled through all the disturbances previous to the last war, but then Maceo carried the conflict into the far west, and Pinar del Rio will not recover from its effects for many a year to come. On the north and on the south the Organo Mountains slope down to undulating plains. That on the southern side is the more extensive and in it the celebrated Vuelta Abajo tobacco district lies. ”

“ A plain and good road led us in the afternoon through moutains to our right and left, covered with pine.
About eight miles from Wolf creek we reached the Rio Mora, a fine mountain stream, and a charming valley was spreading out before us. Soil, grass, and water, are excellent; the surrounding mountains furnish an abundance of pine, and protect the valley at the same time from severe cold in the winter. Stock increases here very fast; nevertheless, there are vere few settlements at present in this part of the valley, because they are constantly exposed to the depredations of Indians. ”

“ The road over which we had hitherto been travelling, though it sometimes traverses upland ridges and undulating sections, runs generally near the border of the river, and for the most part in its immediate valley: but here it leaves the river and passes for nearly eighty miles over a table-plain to the eastward of a small ledge of mountains, whose western base is hugged {73} by the circuitous channel of the Rio del Norte. The craggy cliffs which project from these mountains render the eastern bank of the river altogether impassable. ”

“ In two hours El Nacional entered the river’s mouth. The banks were crowded with a disposition of formidable trees. The sumptuous undergrowth of the tropics overflowed the land, and drowned itself in the fallow waters. Silently the sloop entered there, and met a deeper silence. Brilliant with greens and ochres and floral scarlets, the umbrageous mouth of the Rio Ruiz furnished no sound or movement save of the sea-going water as it purled against the prow of the vessel. ”

“ The immense pines of the Paraná, with straight trunks and wide, flattened crests, whose shape is rather reminiscent of that of a candelabrum with seven branches, cover with their sombre grey the wooded portions of the plateau from the Paranápanema to beyond the Uruguay. With their open foliage, pervious to the light, these woods resemble the pinewoods of Europe.
"To find the tropical forest once more we must push as far as the Serra Geral, whose southern slopes run down towards the prairies of Rio Grande, as on the east they descend towards the sea. ”

“ On the ensuing day, the party marched down the eastern side of the Rio del Norte, the snow being still a foot deep. Near the village of Albuquerque, they observed that the inhabitants were beginning to open the canals, for the purpose of letting in the water of the river, to fertilize the lands. They saw men, women, and children engaged in the joyful labour, which was to crown, with rich abundance, their future harvest, and to ensure them plenty for the ensuing year. ”

“ There is in these vast plains through which the rivers pass an immense tract of land, the soil of which is saturated with fossil salt. It extends to the south of Buenos Ayres, and is about 700 miles in length by 150 in breadth. It is said that in this extent, which reaches to the Rio Vermejo, there is not a river, well or lake whose waters are not brackish. All the rivers which flow through it to the La Plata are fresh until they cross this waste, after which they become salt till they enter the great stream. ”

“ Fifty years ago the valley about Tres Pinos was all one sea of moving grass and dusky, greenish sage, cropped over by deer and antelope, north as far as Togobah, and south to the Bitter Lake. Beside every considerable stream which flowed into It from the Sierras was a Paiute campoodie, and all they knew of white people was by hearsay from the tribes across the mountains. But soon enough cattlemen began to push their herds through the Sierra passes to the Paiutes' feeding-ground. ”

“ The pine forests of these mountains are all alike, resembling the "parks" of Arizona and New Mexico, with great trees, cloud reaching, and a soil thinly covered with grass. Not far beyond the Cruz del Marques, the descent begins into the valley of Cuernavaca and towards the western coast. This descent, from the plateau to the tierra caliente, is more abrupt than on the eastern slope, and consequently we dash at once from one zone into the other, and through the pines, while yet in the mountains, gain glimpses of fields of sugar-cane and the fresh verdure of a foliage that frost never injures. ”

“ As a general thing, the mountains afford an abundance of pine for the supply of lumber and fuel to those sufficiently near to them. Some of the valleys have a limited amount of cottonwood growing along them. In addition to pine, spruce and cottonwood, the stunted cedar and mesquit, which is found over a large area, may be used for fuel. The best timbered portion of the Rio Grande Valley is between Socorro and Doña Aña. The east side of the Guadalupe range has an abundant supply of pine of large size. Around the head-waters of the Pecos is some excellent timber. ”

“ By degrees Pinzon realised the fact that these islands lay at the mouth of an immense river, a river so great that its dimensions can scarcely be realised by one accustomed even to the largest of European streams, such as the Danube or the Volga, far less by one whose ideas of an inland stream were formed by the Guadalquiver. The mariner had in fact alighted at the mouth of the mightiest of the mighty streams of the New World, a river which pours into the ocean a greater volume of water than even the Mississippi or the Plata ”

“ This lake is navigable for the largest vessels, but [Pg 164] is subject to dreadful storms owing to the tremendous gusts of wind which rush from the Andes.
The rivers of Buenos Ayres are innumerable, but the largest and the most noted is the Rio de la Plata, which may be termed the great channel by which the south-eastern part of America is drained. This noble stream is the conjunct flood of the Paraguay, the Pilcomayo, the Parana, the Uruguay, and a multitude of minor rivers which rise either in the Andes or the mountains of Brazil. ”

“ Of the little stream that flows in the deep and thickly wooded ravine, an occasional glimpse only can be caught, as it turns coquettishly from side to side; but its general direction is marked by a succession of water-mills, as well as by a belt of orange and lemon groves, whose dark green foliage is easily distinguished from, and offers a pleasing variety to, the more brilliant tints of the surrounding forest. Beyond, however, where the valley becomes wider and more open, the stream may be distinctly traced lingering over its pebbly bed, and finally forming its junction with the Guadiaro. ”

“ The nut-pine, Pinus edulis, scattered along the upper slopes and roofs of the cañon buildings, is the principal tree of the strange Dwarf Cocanini Forest. It is a picturesque stub of a pine about twenty-five feet high, usually-with dead, lichened limbs thrust through its rounded head, and grows on crags and fissured rock tables, braving heat and frost, snow and drought, and continues patiently, faithfully fruitful for centuries. Indians and insects and almost every desert bird and beast come to it to be fed. ”

“ The morning of the ninth day following Miguel’s disappearance, Señor John chanced to be painting by the river. At Los Morales the Rio Grande is wide, and the colour of the crumbling dirt banks between which it runs; the colour, too, of the high, [300] crumbling dirt-cliffs that stand back of the pueblo on the west, and the colour of the low, square, flat-roofed adobe houses of the Indian village. ”

“ In this northern land they are a symbol of constancy and faith. No one can look at a pine-tree in winter without knowing that spring will come again in due time. The lake itself soon shared in the flood of color brought out by the sun. Most of its surface was ruffled by the breeze, but at points where the high pines sheltered the water and left it rippleless, the mountain-sides mirrored themselves, and the reflection was red like wine. ”

“ The arroyo near the ranch was no longer an arroyo, but a stream fifty feet wide; and on the hither side of the pecan-trees of the creek could be seen a silver line: the water had already surpassed the banks. Before noon there was neither creek nor arroyo, but a river a mile wide rushing down the valley: we knew where the trees had been, by the swirling waves. A flood is like those serpents which fascinate before they strike. ”

“ Then he took the young child up to the mountain, built a cabin under the tamarack pines, and a pit for burning charcoal for the furnace fires.
No one could wish for a better place for a boy to grow up in than the slope of Pine Mountain. There was the drip of pine balm and a wind like wine, white water in the springs, and as much room for roaming as one desired. The charcoal-burner's son chose to go far, coming back with sheaves of strange bloom from the edge of snow banks on the high ridges, bright spar or peacock-painted ores, hatfuls of berries, or strings of shining trout. ”

“ José, with the horses, left us and went back half a mile to a mountain ranch, where he was to await our return; and presently Pinson and I, with heavy burdens upon our backs, began slowly to work our way up the granite spur and toward the great cañon.
An hour’s climb brought us around upon the south wall of our spur, and about a thousand feet above a stream which dashed and leaped along the cañon bottom, through wild ravines and over granite bluffs. Our slope was a rugged rock-face, giving foothold here and there to pine and juniper trees, but for the greater part bare and bold. ”

“ After crossing the river, our path, with the perversity of all Spanish roads, instead of following up the valley of the stream, diverged widely to the right through a cluster or knot of hills, in which we were involved until we reached a rapid stream called Rio Guanupalapa, flowing through a narrow gorge, over a wild mass of stones and boulders. ”

“ One of these is that which we left behind in the evening of the 18th. [The other] is better because it carries much more water. [Both branches] go to unite with each other in the middle of the tule swamps, where we slept on the day mentioned.41 We kept on cruising up the river with the tripled volume of water. The water is clear and both banks are covered with oak trees. At three leagues we encountered the Río Grande. Here we observed the junction of the rivers; it has about 5 varas depth in the center and a width of about 100. ”

“ LOS PINOS VALLEY, LOOKING WEST.—This beautiful photograph gives us a splendid view of cañon, table-land and mountain scenery. It is rugged and picturesque, with a fringe of distant snow-covered mountains as a central background. From the high table-lands to the right, a view of surpassing grandeur and beauty bursts upon the enraptured vision, repaying the tourist for all his pains in climbing to the exalted heights. Here the atmosphere is always cool and invigorating, and the weariness and lassitude of a warmer and more humid climate are not experienced. ”

“ There is a legend that Mexicans finding gold here built a small but strong encampment of logs, rocks, and adobe which they called “Pinos Altos”. The wall was built in the form of a horseshoe with the only opening at the narrow end. Inside were shelters for men and animals and a living spring at the foot of a large cottonwood tree. Men and animals lived inside the enclosure but went outside every day and while the men placered the animals grazed. At day’s end the workings were carefully concealed and all returned to camp and barricaded the opening for the night. ”

“ Just as grassland merges with oak woodland and chaparral, and these with oak-pine woodland, so you will notice, as you climb steadily higher, that these woodlands gradually mingle with the open pine forests that cover much of the Rincon Mountains above 6,000 feet. PONDEROSA PINE is the “big tree” of the Rincons, usually growing in clear, open stands. Through its high canopy of spreading branches, sunlight mottles the shaded forest floor. Its presence indicates still cooler and wetter conditions than those below. Here you will need blankets at night, though summer days are warm. ”

“ A tributary is called by the geographer North Fork, but is locally known as Aguas Calientes or Hot Springs Creek, and where its land is represented as suitable for grazing only, it is found in reality to be adapted to the agriculture of the Mexicans, ranches at intervals being passed along its banks.
“The entire course of the La Jara may be likened in its direction to a huge frying-pan in outline, the long handle upon the plain extending to the Rio Grande, the basin within the foothills to its source. ”

“ The Canyon of Pinon Pines has a pleasant outlook and lies open to the sun. At the upper end there is no more room by the stream border than will serve for a cattle trail; willows grow in it, choking the path of the water; there are brown birches here and ropes of white clematis tangled over thickets of brier rose.
Low down, the ravine broadens out to inclose a meadow the width of a lark's flight, blossomy and wet and good. ”

“ He is too like Lucifer for me to despise him!”
Chapter Five. The Home of the Horse-Hunter. Where the Rio de Nueces (River of Nuts) collects its waters from a hundred tributary streams—lining the map like the limbs of a grand genealogical tree—you may look upon a land of surpassing fairness. Its surface is “rolling prairie,” interspersed with clumps of post-oak and pecân, here and there along the banks of the watercourses uniting into continuous groves. ”