Annotations to Blood Meridian: Chapter V

[58] “Bolson de Mapimi”—from Wikipedia: “an internal drainage, basin in which no rivers or streams drain to the sea, but rather toward the center of the basin, often terminating in swamps or ephemeral lakes. It is located in the center-north of the Mexican Plateau. The basin is shared by the states of Durango, Coahuila, Chihuahua, and Zacatecas.”

[58] “Sopilotes”—a bird from the vulture family

[58] “carreta”—Spanish for cart

[58] “dam”—mother

[59] “possibles”—essentials (from possibles bag: a kind of messenger bag made of buckskin that contained anything a man might possible need.”

[60] “seep”—a seepage spring where groundwater comes to the surface.

[60] “scoria”—dark, volcanic rock.

[60] “bayonet plants”—a type of Yucca with razor-sharp leaves.

[60] “vadose water”—from Wikipedia: “The vadose zone, also termed the unsaturated zone, is the part of Earth between the land surface and the top of the phreatic zone, the position at which the groundwater (the water in the soil's pores) is at atmospheric pressure ("vadose" is from the Latin word for "shallow"). Hence, the vadose zone extends from the top of the ground surface to the water table.”

[60] “monkeyflower”—a species of yellow flower native to northern Mexico.

[60] “deathcamas”—a poisonous plant, native to this region.

[60] “reliquary”—a container for religious relics, sometimes an ornate and decorated box or chest.