[14] The route from the Rio Grande to the Rio Florida is described in Wislizenus's "Tour to Northern Mexico," Washington, 1848 (Senate misc. doc. 26, 1st session, 30th Congress) and in Bartlett's Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora and Chihuahua (New York, 1854). Wislizenus was physician in Doniphan's expedition, and Bartlett was United States Mexican Boundary Commissioner. The Mexican Atlas of Garcia y Cubas (Mexico City, 1859) furnishes maps that are nearly contemporary and a list of haciendas.
[15] Cabalgada is properly a troop of mounted men or cavalcade. The word is here applied to the animals upon which the men are mounted.
[16] Hidalgo del Parral, marked upon the maps both as Hidalgo and as Parral, but more commonly the latter.
[17] The Taraumara or more properly the Tarahumara Indians are described in H. H. Bancroft's Native Races, vol. i, chap. v.
[18] The Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon lunifrons) is described in Audubon's Birds of America, ed. 1840, vol. i, p. 177. Audubon proposed the name Hirundo republicana in 1824, but Say had named the species Hirundo lunifrons the year before. I am indebted to Dr. F. H. Snow for reference to the synonymy and the account of the discovery of this species in Coues's Birds of the Colorado Valley, part i, pp. 426-429.
[19] Frejoles or frijoles, Spanish for beans.
[20] Thomas Cole (1801-1848), an American landscape painter of English birth, was one of the earliest artists to depict the beauties of American scenery; he was noted for his scenes in the Catskills. His recent death doubtless emphasized his pictures in Audubon's mind.
[21] The Caracara or Brazilian Eagle is described in Audubon's Birds of America, ed. 1840, vol. i, p. 21. It was found in Florida by Audubon but so rarely occurs in the United States that it is not included in the "A. O. U. Check List of North American Birds." The name is derived from the hoarse cry that it utters.
[22] Caramba is the commonest of Spanish interjections.
[23] Many scientific reports appeared in the public documents of this period. Fremont's "Report of an Expedition to Oregon and California" was printed both in Senate and House documents and in a separate edition in 1845. The Senate documents of the 1st session of the 30th Congress, printed in 1848, contain Emory's "Reconnoissance from Fort Leavenworth to San Diego," Abert's "Examination of New Mexico," Wislizenus's "Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico," and Fremont's "Geographical Memoir upon Upper California." Audubon probably had in mind the cylindrical cactus figured by Abert.