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Show • [ 23] 18 one is obliged to keep a sharp look out for it, as there is ~nly one or two trees scattered along its bottom, and th.ese almost hidden by perpendicular banks, in many places ~5 feet h1gh. . I should advise persons to encamp JUSt be_fore rea chmg the three conical buttes, a sketch of which was made last year; as they point out this camping place they form a very useful land mark .. The waters of the El Rio Timpa are ge ne ra11y very sahne, but the ]ate rain had so diluted th em that we found them rather plea. sant. My little party .reach ed this place at 4 o' clo ck, but the ox tr~ins did not arrive until dark; many of the men, who wore moccastns, were complaining most bi t terly of the spines of the cactus; their feet were full of them. As there was no wood fit to burn, we were forced to use the grease bru~h~ so t~e v oyag e ~ r s.c a1l it on accouz:t of its burning with such a bnlhant hght. It Is 1n truth the ob10ne canescens. This, with the artemisia trid entata and Fremontia vermicularis, grows in g reat abund ance ;tlong th e vall ey of the Timpa. Growing among the sage I found the "linosyris dra cunculoides." It is here from three to four feet in height. We a l so found the "artemisia can a." September 11.-This morning we again ~1d a long c hase after 01,1r mules; they appea red to be as wild as deer, but we at last caught them. Shortly after we had started, we passed the three conical buttes; their tops are covered with pieces of carbonate of lime, beautifully crystalized. The country now became more broken; on the ridges were scattered groves of cedar trees, and the bottom lands clad with the silvery looking foliage of the arte· mtsias. After a march of 19 miles, we camped at a place called the Willows. Here the road crosses the Timpa; the rocks rise on your right hand to the height of 100 feet, their tops covered with cedar trees, and their sides clad with the currant (ribes cer· eum) and ·the ta1I cactus, "cactus undulata." .When we first arrived we had a long search before we could oh· tam any water. At last found some brackish pools, half hidden by th.e tall cane g:ras~, (arundo phraguntes,) and bordered with the cat· tall (t:fpha lattf~lta) and arrow weed, (sagittaria sagittefolia.) D':lrmg t~e mght, my t~nt came very n.ear being burnt up. A man belongmg to the ox tram entered my camp, and, throwing some fuel upon the fire, went to bed, leaving the fire burning. The grass caught; all were asleep except myself, anrl it was lucky for ~e that I had sat up. I heard the roaring of the fire and look· mg out, found tht.' flames within a few feet of m/ tent. I shouted aloud, and. all th~ men sprang up, caught their blankets as they rose, and With them soon whipt out the fire. The grass was short, or they could not so easily have extinguished the flames. As ~y health was not yet finn, I had since starting been ver,r car~fu] to he the door of my tent, to make it as close as pos~Ible, and, when I endeavored. to rush out, I found mys elf impns· hned. Had the tent caught, It would have been as much as I could ave done to save myself; m'Y note books and sketches that had 19 [ 23] cost me some Ia bor, and that I va lued highly, would have been destroyed . September 12.~When daylight appeared, I again congratulated myself on the escape of last night. The ground for a considerable space around the fire was one black patch, and this extended to within two f eet ?f my tent. We. qu~ckly .st ruck our camp and started for "hole m the rock," whiCh Is 7 mil es from the Willows. ~As we crossed the Timpa, at the WilJows, and were going south we had that st ream on our left hand side. Where we camped th~ banks were com posed of high, rugged sandstone rocks cr1vered with a .dense growth of cedar and pinyon, (pinus mondphyllus.) We noticed along the roaJ many sky-larks (alauda alpestris) and meadow larks, (sturnella neglecta,) differing slightly from the common meadow lark in its note, and in its tail feathers, which in this bird, ~re n~a!ly equal; also the flicker, (pi cus auratus.) ' While ndmg along the road, some distan ce in advance of the wagon., I noticed a number of prairie dogs seated near the entran ce of their burrows, some squatted, half concealed in the mouth of their dwelling, and were barking most vehemently on my approach· but ~here.was ?ne that stood ~traight up ~pon his hind legs, pre~ sentmg hts white breast and oelly to fu11 vi ew. Although I had nev.er fired o~ .my mule, I could not resist this opportunity of procu~ mg a praute dug. I drew up my gun and fired, with the quickness of thought; my mule turned directly about, and had made several spri~gs in the direction of the wagon before I CO!lld check her. I .n?w rode back, but could not identify the spot where the. prairte dog had been sitting. After a litlle time spent in fruitless search, I continued my journey, resolved not to fire off from a mule again. We had to search about "hole in the rock" for some time before we found water, and this was covered with a thick, green scum fit only for .the magpies and ravens that we started a way from it; but, on huntmg down the stream, we found some clear water in a very deep hole. On its margin, in the shade of some willows, there were many frogs sitting; now and then one would make a dart an.d gulph down a passing fly, so quick that we could scarce perCeive the frog's motion. We killed a dozen of these frogs and had them.cooked for supper. This afternoon a young German, who accompanied the ox wagons, entered my camp. I had seen him several times at Bent's fort. On his approach, he greeted me with a salutation from Horae~, "quid agis, dulcessime rerum." For some time I did not k.now ln '''hat language he had spoken, his pronunciation being so different from that of an American. He brought me a specimen of the horned Iizzard (agama cornuta) and a species of centipede. . In the evenina-, ~Pilka caught me a gopher. I was obliged to kill ~t, as it struggl~d so hard to get awa_y; figl.tting furio~sly. with Its sharp teeth, and cgtting the cord with which I had tied It. I preserved the skin, also the skull; but the latter was fractured by the blow I had given, and the two upper incisors broken off. We could now see the high, rocky peak that marks the entrance |
