There are enumerated 26 villages and 19 missions in New Mexico.
The Passo del Norte, or Fort, is the most noted of these, and is situated in a country which produces all sorts of fruits and a fine wine; it is on the right bank of the Rio del Norte, 60 leagues south of Santa Fé.
This country, which was discovered by a missionary in 1581, was finally subdued in 1644, and slightly settled by the missionaries.
The mines are generally of tin; and the total population is about 40,000.
The chief river of this country is the Rio Grande del Norte, (the great northern river,) called also Rio Bravo, rising in the Sierra Verde, beyond the extreme bounds of the province; and after a course of 2000 miles, this noble stream enters the Gulf of Mexico, traversing the whole length of New Mexico, the province of Coaguila, and that of New Santander. In the province of Coaguila it receives the Puerco River, a considerable stream, which rises south of Santa Fé, the capital.
The Rio Grande is beautifully adorned in New Mexico by woody banks of poplar and oak. It is subject to periodical floods, which begin in April and end in June; the great road from the south to Santa Fé, runs along the east bank of this river in New Mexico, and crosses it at the Fort del Passo before mentioned, and is so level, that carriages of a light construction are used on it; but the wandering Indians render travelling unsafe in some points. In New Mexico, the Rio del Norte frequently is encrusted, during the winter, with ice thick enough to travel on. This river is fordable for horsemen in the droughts of summer; the streams which join it in New Mexico, are of no moment, the country being in general dry; near the northern part some rivers rise which have been conjectured to be the Red River, and Arkansas of Louisiana; but the geography of the countries to the west and east of New Mexico, remains in a very defective state.
The eastern towns of New Mexico, as well as its villages, are in general thickly peopled, on account of the proximity of the country to tribes of warlike Indians. On the west of the great river Del Norte, the Indians are of a comparatively peaceable character, and are on friendly terms with the natives, of New Mexico.—Of these western tribes—
The Moqui Indians have towns well constructed, after the manner of the ancient Mexicans, for the purposes of defence; and the missionaries who have visited these tribes, say, that although their language is different from that of the ancient Mexicans, yet, from several concurrent circumstances, they appear to be part of the remnant of those people who scattered themselves at Cinaloa, on their march from the north. Their houses exactly resemble those of Casas Grandes, which the Aztecs built on their route near the Rio Gila.
It is the Indians of the east country, from the great river Del Norte, that are so constantly engaged in disputes with the New Mexicans.