which makes a very intense heat when used for fuel. Eagle Spring, a short distance from Fort Quitman, takes its name from the immense number of eagles that build their nests and rear their young in the rocky cliffs. The scenery here is very beautiful, but it is considered one of the most dangerous spots on the route, on account of the opportunities which it offers to the Indians for an effective attack.
Leaving the river, and making the interior, we were not long in arriving at about as rough and unpleasant a piece of ground as I ever travelled over. In this strip of territory, of about thirty miles in width, rattlesnakes and horned toads are more abundant than the scorpions on Scorpion Rock, at St. Thomas.
The Leon Holes, which our stage next reached, are three in number, and the water is very brackish. No bottom has ever been found to them. They say that a freighter, who wished to tighten the tire of a wheel, threw it into one of these holes, but when he was ready to start it was not to be seen, having passed completely out of sight.
About seven miles from the Leon Holes is Fort Stockton, and beyond that is a station-house, kept by a man who had the reputation of dishing up for his guest pretty near everything and anything that could be eaten. The place, however, was neat and clean, and as the cooking looked inviting, I, being too hungry to be over-fastidious, ate what was before me, and asked no questions.
We next travelled through a number of beautiful valleys and over rolling prairies, abounding in buffaloes, antelopes, and deer, until the Rio Pecos was reached. This is a bold and muddy stream, and when, as the stagemen say, it gets on a rampage, it rushes on in a perfect torrent. The station-keeper at this point was a small man, who blasphemed enough for six large ones. In spite of his foul language, however, he was a good housekeeper, and everything about his place looked nice and in good order.
Our stage now rolled through one of the richest stock-raising countries in America a country which, when the Texas and Pacific Railroad is built, will certainly be rapidly settled.
The farther we now proceeded the more frequent became the signs of civilization, and, as with this journey, through a most interesting but little-known section of the country, was the last of my adventures that is likely to be of interest to the majority of readers, this seems to be a proper place to bring
