The depredations of the Apaches have been of such long duration, that, beyond the immediate purlieus of the towns, the whole country from New Mexico to the borders of Durango is almost entirely depopulated. The haciendas and ranchos have been mostly abandoned, and the people chiefly confined to towns and cities. To such a pitch has the temerity of those savages reached, that small bands of three or four warriors have been known to make their appearance within a mile of the city of Chihuahua in open day, killing the laborers and driving off whole herds of mules and horses without the slightest opposition. Occasionally a detachment of troops is sent in pursuit of the marauders, but for no other purpose, it would seem, than to illustrate the imbecility of the former, as they are always sure to make a precipitate retreat, generally without even obtaining a glimpse of the enemy.[47] And yet the columns of a little weekly sheet published in Chihuahua always teem with flaming accounts of prodigious feats of valor performed by the 'army of operations' against _los bárbaros_: showing how "the enemy was pursued with all possible vigor"--how the soldiers "displayed the greatest {294} bravery, and the most unrestrainable desire to overhaul the dastards," and by what extraordinary combinations of adverse circumstances they were "compelled to relinquish the pursuit." Indeed, it would be difficult to find a braver race of people than the [Pg078] _Chihuahueños_[48] contrive to make themselves appear upon paper. When intelligence was received in Chihuahua of the famous skirmish with the French, at Vera Cruz, in which Santa Anna acquired the glory of losing a leg,[49] the event was celebrated with uproarious demonstrations of joy; and the next number of the _Noticioso_[50] contained a valiant fanfaronade, proclaiming to the world the astounding fact, that one Mexican was worth four French soldiers in battle: winding up with a "_Cancion Patriótica_," of which the following exquisite verse was the _refrain_: "_Chihuahuenses, la Patria gloriosa_ _Otro timbre á su lustre ha añadido;_ _Pues la_, ıuʌıɔʇɐ lɐ פɐlıɐ ıupoɯɐqlǝ AL VALOR MEXICANO _ha cedido_." Literally translated: Chihuahuenses! our glorious country Another ray has added to her lustre; For the _invincible, indomitable Gallia_ Has succumbed to Mexican valor. By the inverted letters of "_invicta, la Galia indomable_," in the third line, the poet gives {295} the world to understand that the kingdom of the Gauls had at length been whirled topsy-turvy, by the glorious achievements of _el valor Mexicano_! From what has been said of the ravages of the Apaches, one would be apt to believe them an exceedingly brave people; but the Mexicans themselves call them cowards when compared with the Comanches; and we are wont to look upon the latter as perfect specimens of poltroonery when brought [Pg079] in conflict with the Shawnees, Delawares, and the rest of our border tribes.[51]