they reached a
clump of timber in the neighborhood of _Las Vegas_ in New Mexico; but,
during the tramp, one man had been frozen to death and others had come
near to perishing.

After arriving in the settlements; the party learned from some
friendly Indians, that the Apaches had suffered severely by being
exposed to this same storm, and the report was that many of them had
since died in consequence thereof. From this, it would appear as if
an all seeing power had protected the whites, while it had dealt out
a fearful judgment upon these wicked savages, who have more than vague
ideas of the sin of murdering, in cold blood, innocent people, sages
and philanthropists far distant and safe in great cities to the
contrary notwithstanding. There are no set of men in the world who can
draw the line between right and wrong based on its first principle,
and taught to them by the great lessons of nature, as can many tribes
of Indians. Among themselves, and especially among their individual
bands, in regard to all crimes, the Indian has his moral code of laws
which, in many respects, is not surpassed by those of his pale-faced
brother. They have their civil chief who is responsible for the peace
and good order of the camp; and, before him, are tried, by the lawyers
of the tribe, all cases worthy of notice. If the parties are found
guilty, the offender or offenders are summarily dealt with--therefore,
"with his untutored mind," in his intercourse with white men, the
Indian is not altogether excusable in committing crime.

There are many people who believe that the Indians, as a race, have
been greatly sinned against, and to sustain their views, have called
in the assistance of flowery-written romances and the high-sounding
language of prose and poetry. Much of this novelty and interest
rubs off by coming in contact with the savage as he really exists.
Admiration often changes, in this case, into distrust and even enmity.
It is natural that this should be so, for mere book-education biases
the mind always, either for or against, and therefore, it is not
strange that in the far West, we should often meet with men who
unhesitatingly declare that the red man, if capable, is unwilling
to entertain in his character even one redeeming trait; but, on
investigating their individual case, we find that they are but
superficial observers who are prone to find fault with everything that
does not exactly suit their tastes. It is necessary to sp