Sketches of the campaign in northern Mexico : in eighteen hundred forty-six and seven / by an officer of the First Regiment of Ohio volunteers.

146 A CLOUD SCENE.
and the interior of Mexico." As we lingered upon the hill
to survey the dangerous charms of our fascinating foe, we
beheld a dense cloud far up the pass, rolling rapidly down,
like all Alpine torrent, toward the city. It completely filled
the gorge, and concealed in its massive folds every crag and
shrub as it advanced. It differed from the wonderful cloud
we had observed with so much interest at Camargo, especially
in the ominous silence attending its progress. Both were
presented to our gaze about the same hour of the day, but
that seen at Camargo, approaching us from the east, was
brightened and adorned by the rays of the setting sun, while
this, coming from the west, frowned darkly and fearfully upon
us. As it advanced, it continued to rise and spread until it
occupied the whole of the narrow valley through which it
moved. The slanting rays of light from the west, piercing
its thin, upper folds, formed a foam-like crest upon the cloud
cataract. It was a mute and magnificent representation of
Niagara. The resemblance was more perfect when the cloud,
reaching the mouth of the pass, encountered a strong current
of air flowing parallel with the Sierra Madre, which, while
holding it firmly within its mountain banks, whirled in wild
eddies the heavy vapor at its base, and scattered into mist
the more elevated and projecting portions of the mass. Like
some mighty host suddenly and impetuously assailed when
marching in close column through a narrow defile, the broken
* Through this gorge, which widens into the pretty little valley of Santa
Catalina, is the only practicable route for wagons and artillery to be found in the
whole range of the Sierra Madre. There is another pass through the rocky rampart, many leagues to the eastward, leading to Tula de Tamaulipas, but it is rough
and precipitous —merely a bridle path.