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[[underlined]] To Comstock [[/underlined]]

[[underlined]]July 24[[/underlined]] - Started for Comstock, following down the river 7 miles & crossing it 3 or 4 times.  The valley grows narrower where we left river & has wonderfully beautiful spots all along, under groves of big pecans or "moss" loaded old live oaks.  Passed 2 ranches.  The river grows larger & springs keep coming out.  Rocky cliffs appear in places & some are full of cavetis & caves.  At Comstock Mr. McDonald showed me a piece of pure saltpeter from one of the caves.

Leaving Devils River ^[[at 1650 feet]] we followed up a long draw to top of mesa at 1850 feet, then up & down over open country to Comstock at 1800. & camped on mesa at 1850 a mile east of town.

The road is good & most of the way perfect - hard & smoothe as a floor.

The top of the mesa is largely Upper Sonoran with Dasylirion, Nolina as its dominant plants.  No mesquite except in gulches.

Here we strike Cassin sparrow again which was not found in the Devil River valley.  

The top of the mesa is cool & breezy & not very stony. Good grass where the sheep have not been.

Transcription Notes:
"cavetis" is probably caveties, but transcribed as written. I added " At Comstock Mr. McDonald showed me a piece of pure saltpeter from one of the caves." at the end of the 1st paragraph.--thomasc