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tract of country, it will be almost impossible to punish the thieves. In my judgement, a military post and agency should be established near their settlements. It must be borne in mind that about one-third of the Navajos are a lazy, indolent and thieving people, who will have to be watched constantly, and, if they commit depredations, punished. 

      Wherever these people are located, it will be necessary for the Government to subsist them until they can plant and gather their crops, -- otherwise they will depredate upon the flocks of the inhabitants of the Rio Grande and other localities.      It cannot be expected that 7000 Indians, who have comparatively nothing, and have been fed by the Government for four years, and who have subsisted partly by agriculture for several centuries, can live without extreme suffering, when their only subsistence would be game and the wild fruit of the country. It is now so late in the season that they will not be able to reach their country in time to plant this year. Therefore, in my judgement, the Government ought to feed them until they can gather