of the savages. Profiting by the
darkness and the level country which lay before them, they reached, by
the rising of the next morning's sun, the Mexican town of Red River,
which was sixty-five miles distant from the place they had last
started from. All dangers having been now surmounted, they made a
sufficient stay at Red River to rest themselves and animals.

On resuming their journey, they jogged along over the now rough trail
and, after a ride of thirty miles, came to Taos, where they were once
more safe from the perils that had so recently surrounded them, and
where they were well provided for by kind friends.

Rio Colorado, or Red River settlement, is, next to Taos, the oldest
town in northern New Mexico. It is located on a small stream of the
same name, which flows into the Rio Grande. The town itself contains
some two or three hundred inhabitants, and occupies rather a pretty
site, being built on a high bank, while between it and the river
there is a large strip of bottom land, which is under cultivation.
The scenery about is picturesque, embracing lofty and bold mountains,
beautiful wood-land and open prairies. The external appearance of the
village is that of abject poverty; and, on entering it, one readily
sees that his eyesight has not deceived him, but that his first
impressions are fully realized. It was here that Fremont and his men
found a haven of safety after meeting their trying reverses on the
fourth exploring expedition. To them, the sight of this town must have
been hailed with delight. In Red River there live two old trappers,
who have long since been weaned from the habits and manners of
civilization. These two men are Canadians, one of them notorious for
the "yarns" he can spin; but as they are many of them past belief,
they are listened to by the traveler as a help to pass the time while
he is obliged to tarry in the place. A young English nobleman who was
on a visit of pleasure to the western country, once fell into this
man's clutches, and, from the trapper's after boasting, we infer that
he (the trapper) more than surpassed himself in story-telling. Among
other things, he informed this nobleman that he had once mastered
a grizzly bear in a hand-to-hand fight by cramming a stick that was
sharpened at both ends into the bear's mouth in such a way that the
monster could not close his jaws, because it fastened and kept them
open. Being asked by the nobleman how large were the _hare_ in that