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The world of prairie which lies at dis tance of more than three hundred miles west of the inhabited portions of the Uni- :eIi States, and south of iiile river ifkat- sas and its branches, has been rarely, and parts of # never trodden by the foot or be- held by the eye of an Anglo Amercan.- Rivers rise there in the broad level waste. of winch, mighty though they become in their course, the source Is unexplored. = Deserts are there, too barren of grass to support even the hardy buffalo; and in which water, except in here and there a hole, IS never found. Ranged over by the Cumanches, the Pawnees, the Caiawas, and other equally wandering, savage and hostile tribes, it's very name is mystery and terror. The Pawnees have their vil- lages entirely north of this part of the coun- try; and their war parties. always on foot --and seldom to be met with to the south of the Canadian, except close in upon the edges of the white and civilized Indian set dement's. Extending on the south 10 the Rio del Norte, on the north to distance hundred miles of the edge of Arkansas Territory, and westwardy to the Rocky Mountains, Is the range of the Cuman- ches. Abundantly supplied with good hor- ses from the immense herds of the prairie, they range, at different times of the year. over the whole of this vast country. Their war and hunting parties follow the buffalo continually. In the winter they may be found in tho south, encamped along the Rio del Norte, and under the mountains j; and Tn the summer on the Canadian, and to the north of it, and on the Pecos. Some times they haunt the Canadian in the win ter, but not so commonly as in the summer.

 Itis into this great American desert that wish 10 condactmy readers--hrst solemnly assuring them that what am about to relate IS perfectly the truth, and that nothing Is ex- aggerated Or extenuated in the narration.

 In the month of September, 1881, Aaron E. Lewis, residing at the time near Fort Towson, on Red River, in the territory of Arkansas, was induced to undertake jour ney 10 the province of New Mexico, al- lured by the supposed immense riches in that country, and the opportunity which he imagined there was in making for tune there. He looked upon New Mex ico as sort of Utopia, country where gold and silver were abundant and easily obtained. In short, his ideas of 1t were precisely such as the word Mexico general Iy suggests to the mind. Neither has he been alone in his delusion. With blind- ness unaccouutable, men still continue rushing to Santa Fe, as if fortunes were to be had there for the asking. Men who by hard and incessant labor have amassed a little money, laying that out to the last farthing, and in addition, mortgaging per haps their farms to obtain farther credit, convey the goods thus obtained to Santa Fe, hoping thus and there to gain fortune. notwithstanding they have seen numbers returning poor and impoverished, after starting, as they are doing, with high hopes and full wagons. Here and there an indi- 