Oarson,  as  soon  as  he  could  be  spared,  lost  no  time
in  getting  back  to  his  family  in  Taos,  a  pretty  large
town  of  New  Mexico,  possessing  all  the  usual  at-
tractions of  such  places  in  that  section  of  the  State
of  Mexico.  A  church,  a  few  fair  houses,  but  the  bal-
ance being  only  adobe  houses  or  rather  huts.  For-
tunately the  dryness  and  general  salubrity  of  the  air
does  not  call  for  any  great  efforts  to  "  expel  the
Winter's  fluid."  But  a  small  part  of  the  land  lying
between  the  town  and  the  surrounding  mountains  is
under  cultivation,  but  the  scarcity  of  breadstuffs  and
other  vegetable  food  is  easily  eked  out  by  the  cattle
and  sheep  which  throng  the  neighboring  pastures.
Although  at  the  time  of  which  we  write  the  natives  had
but  partially  adopted  the  improvements  of  United
States  citizens  in  their  agricultural  and  other  imple-
ments, still  the  wedge  had  been  inserted  and  every
hour  it  was  driven  further  into  the  log  dividing  the
old  from  the  new.  Here  Carson's  family  resided  and
followed  the  customs  of  Mrs.  Carson's  ancestors,  for


ADVMTUBES  OF  KIT  CABSON.  45

it  must  be  remembered  that  the  lady  was  of  Spanish
descent.  That  style  of  living  probably  suited  Kit
Carson  far  better  than  the  polished  artificiality  of
manners  prevalent  in  the  States.
