[106] There is very little wine or legitimate _aguardiente_ manufactured in New Mexico. There was not a distillery, indeed, in all the province until established by Americans some fifteen or twenty years ago. Since that period, considerable quantities of whiskey have been made there, particularly in the vicinity of Taos,--distilled mainly from wheat, as this is the cheapest grain the country affords.--GREGG. [107] For the ordinary mesquit, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p. 94, note 56. The tornillo is _Prosopis pubescens_, the fruit of which is often called the screw-bean, and used by the Indians both for food and fodder.--ED. [108] A particular species of _agave_, called _A. lechuguilla_, abounding in the El Paso region. See J. N. Rose, "Useful Plants of Mexico," in U. S. Herbarium _Contributions_, volume v, no. 4, p. 209.--ED. [109] Lake Patos (Lake of Geese), in northern Chihuahua, is the outlet for Rio Carmen.--ED. [110] Carrizal was founded about 1750, and at one time considered a part of the province of New Mexico. It was later made a presidio, or frontier fort, with a surrounding wall.--ED. [111] Wislizenus found the temperature of these springs 84° Fahrenheit. There is now a station called Ojo Calientes, on the Mexican Central Railway, but it is some distance from the springs.--ED. [112] The size of Laguna de Encinillas (Lake of Live-Oaks) varies greatly with the season of drouth or rain.--ED. [113] For a brief sketch of Chihuahua, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p. 153, note 85.--ED. CHAPTER XXI {V} Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 -- Southern Trade and _Ferias_ -- Hacienda de la Zarca, and its innumerable Stock -- Rio Nazas, and Lakes without outlet -- Perennial Cotton -- Exactions for Water and Pasturage -- Village of Churches -- City of Durango and its Peculiarities -- Persecution of Scorpions -- Negro-ship in the ascendant -- Robbers and their _modus_ _operandi_ -- City of Aguascalientes -- Bathing Scene -- Haste to return to the North -- Mexican Mule-shoeing -- Difficulties and Perplexities -- A Friend in time of need -- Reach Zacatecas -- City Accommodations -- Hotels unfashionable -- _Locale_, Fortifications, etc. of the City of Zacatecas -- Siege by Santa Anna and his easy-won Victory -- At Durango again -- Civil Warfare among the 'Sovereigns' -- Hairbreadth 'scapes -- Troubles of the Road -- Safe Arrival at Chihuahua -- Character of the Southern Country. The patient reader who may have accompanied me thus far, without murmuring at the dryness of some of the details, will perhaps pardon me for presenting here a brief account of a trip which I made to _Aguascalientes_, in the interior of Northern Mexico, in the year 1835, and which the arrangement I have adopted has prevented me from introducing before, in its chronological order.