In their journey southward, they passed through several villages. One of these, called _Sibilleta_, was in the form of a regular square, appearing, on the outside, like an immense mud-wall. All the doors and windows faced the interior of the square; and it was the neatest and most regular village Mr. Pike had ever seen. Beyond this village, the party met a caravan, consisting of three hundred men, escorted by an officer and thirty-five or forty troops, who were proceeding, with about fifteen thousand sheep, to the different provinces. They afterwards met a caravan of fifty men, and about two hundred horses, laden with traffic, for New Mexico. On the 21st of March they arrived at the _Passo del Norte_: the road now led them through a rough and mountainous country; and passing through _Carracal_, and some other villages, they reached _Chihuahua_ on the 2d of April. They were conducted into the presence of the commanding-officer of the place, before whom Mr. Pike underwent an examination, as he had previously done at Santa Fe. He was treated with great apparent respect, and was offered both assistance and money. He afterwards visited in the houses of some of the principal inhabitants. At the house of the governor, when wine was put on the table, after dinner, the company was entertained with songs in the French, Italian, Spanish, and English languages. There are, at Chihuahua, and in its vicinity, fifteen mines; thirteen of silver, one of gold, and one of copper; the furnaces for all of which are in the suburbs of the town, and present, except on Sundays, volumes of smoke, rising in every direction. Chihuahua is surrounded by piles of cinders, from ten to fifteen feet in height. In the public square, stand the church, the royal treasury, the town-house, and the richest shops; and, at the western extremity of the town, are two other churches, an hospital, and the military academy. About a mile south of the town, is a large aqueduct. The principal church of Chihuahua is a most superb edifice: its whole front is covered with statues of saints; figures of different saints are set in niches of the wall; and the windows, doors, &c. are ornamented with sculpture. The decorations in the interior are said to be immensely rich. On the south of the town is a public walk, formed by three rows of trees, the branches of which nearly form a junction over the heads of the passengers below. At different distances, there are seats for persons to repose themselves upon; and at each end of the walks, are circular seats, on, which, in the evenings, the inhabitants amuse themselves in singing to the music of guitars. This city contains about eleven thousand inhabitants.