On the 17th of September the Mexican guides sent to us from the Angosturas arrived. The next day our encampment was broken up, many things were destroyed, and having been compelled to live upon the draught oxen, five waggons were abandoned. The men, at this time, were in a feeble and languid state; scratches on their hands ulcerated, and it seemed as if the scurvy was about to appear among us.

Our first day's march was to the base of the escarpment of the grand prairie, at the side of the Arroyo Atuley. On the morning of the 19th we brought the waggons by an easy ascent upon this remarkably extensive table-land. The few openings which afford places for ascent or descent, are called by the Mexicans "puertas" Upon the edge of this land, the whole extent of the table-land beneath, upon which we had remained so many days, appeared as a map before us, with the white lines of the sandy bed of the river and of its branches clearly marked, and misquite trees dotted upon the plain.

The appearance of the grand prairie is that of a flat plain. The pasturage for the cattle was excellent, and the grass as green as if the season was that of spring. But it is remarkable that, excepting in the bed of a river and in some gullies, there was not a tree or a shrub on the prairie. On the 21st we crossed a broad gully. On the 23rd we reached the Rio Escaravedra (escarbadura, scraping). The Mexicans stated that, when the stream did not run, water was obtained in the channel by scraping or digging up the ground. It lay in a broad chasm about 100 feet below the level of the prairie; but at this time there were only water-holes in it.

The guides appeared to know the country accurately: they followed no trail, there was no tree or mark before them, and yet from morning to night they did not vary from the course they proposed to take. If at the end of the day a mere water-hole was to be the camping-place, they carried us directly to it. To-day they brought us to what was no doubt a very important point. On a sudden we came upon a well-worn road, bearing down to the river, formed by the tracks or trails of buffaloes and Indian and Mexican hunting-parties: we descended it, and crossed to the left bank, continuing during the day along the side of the river. Coming upon the relics of a broken Mexican waggon, there was an extravagant expression of joy: it was not then known how far from the settlements even the Mexicans will drive their waggons. Before getting out of the chasm and reaching the prairie, the Indians cut off two of our men.

Our course was kept westerly and near to the line of the river, sometimes camping on it at night, and other times halting at lagunes on the prairies, where were frequently flocks of wild ducks. Some few antelopes were killed. It was not the buffalo season, and we saw none, but there were signs of immense herds having traversed the country. On the 27th there was no water at the almost north westerly point of the bed of the river: this the guides had warned us to expect. On the 28th we failed in reaching a puerta, or place of descent, until after it was dark. It was necessary to press forward for water, and we brought down the waggons with great difficulty and camped at a water-hole. During the nine days that we were on the table-land we travelled at the very least 170 miles.

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Adapted from Thomas Falconer
"Notes on a Journey through Texas and New Mexico, in the Years 1841 and 1842"