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Show [ 23 j 104 crest of 1h e u_1 ec 1·l VI' t x, w he'11 instantly the wagon. rushed down, in ~pi~e of all our precautions, and with such velocity, that the lead-ino- mules were overtaken; (lnd wagon, and men, and mules, all were th~own· together in one confused h~ap. Fortunately no one was h t anyth ing broken. Some of the men now sprang to work, ur ' nor . .I h . f f . and unhitched the mules, when th~y regamec ~ eu eet; a ter wait· ing until they hac.l go t over the fnght, we agam geared up and as-cended the opposite bank. . . , . About noon we reached the "Rw Verm~Jo; ~ere the .tre bore ltp our wagon, and we desct'nded to the nver Without difficul~y. :But the bank to be ascended stalled us; h~wever? after a comnderab1e delay we got over this difficulty, and 1mmechately encamped. The constant labor and severe exposure my .men had unde~go~e, . rendered some episode 11ecessary Ill ord er to break .the COnttnu~ty of pains and trials; I therefore took some of the ~ndian ~oods With which I was pro:vided, and parcellerl them out m.tn pnz~s, to be ·shot for with rifles. We spent the \Yhole afternoon 111 sho o~In~; and for a while we seemed to forget the past and to cease tl11nkmg of the future. . Janua1·y 9.-We arose very early, and before the c.lock had struck five we had commencerl our march. The snow upon the ground made more light than otherwise ~here would have been; as it was,. there was difficulty in seeing the road. During the greater part of the day it threatened to storm, and the atmosphere was so filled with minute particles of snow that we· could scarcely see further than two or three miles around. As we approached El Rio Canadiano, we found that there bad been but little snow there. During our progress, we were continua11y starting herds of antelope from secluded valleys, where they had sought shelter from the inclemencies of the season. The dny was extremely cold, and the snow-mist completely chilled us. It was only by continue.d friction of our hantls that we succeedeu in retaining their flext· bility. Several times my moccasins froze to my stirrups. We pressed rapidly onward, and before noon reached the "Canadian," and found an excellent camping ground, where we ha<l plenty of dry timber and enough grass to appease the hunger of our half famished mules. Our day's march \vas twenty miles, which was a great march, for during the early portion of the day we had much snow upon the road. January 10.-W e now have but little snow upon the ground arot~nd ~s .. The sun shines as if his power was trammellf•d by. the b~numb1ng 1nfluen ce of the cold. Alt hou4h there was but h~tle wmd, yet we wtre glad to get sheltered from that little by our entrance i.n the pass of.the Raton. Here stupendous escarpments of rock nse Oil each s1de of us, until th ey attain the height of 3)000 feet. ~he first hill we met gave us con siderable trouble; we w:re obltged to apply all the force we could muster to the lcadJn~ wagon, and thE-n return for the other. This method of carrying them up one at a time detained us a great while. At one place, 105 [ 23] b 1 took the bed of a stream; the ice had been repe~tedly t e roar . h. k l r fl ·ed and frozen so that 1t was now very t IC , ant too sIp-over fo w us cto venture' upon. We were compel 1e d to ascen d th e ~:~~er~r b:mk, and after proceeding about 40 yar.ls, were obliged to re·cross this stream. When we came to descend tl e bank, we f d one practicab1e place, and there the bank was not only steep, bouut ns ideling, and, to prevent the wagon f rom s I'1d 'm g o ff, we were obliged to fix ro~es to 'the top, .~nd to cut a de~p ch.a~nel for the wheefs. It reqUired a long while to prepare the decll v1ty, for the O'r·ound was frozen extremely hard. b Januar I.-This morning we found that all our mules had gnawed t.heir .ro~es as.under. and. gone off. For a long time we searched m vam m vanous chrectwns. Some of the men even went as far back as the Rio Canadian; at last they were all found in a mountain ravine not far from our camp. At 10 o'clock we commenced our march; we were continually obliged to cross the stream, which was very tortuous and had high banks. These crossings were full of difficulty. The mules .would run on until they reached the frozen stream~ when they ''' oul J suduenly stop, and the wagon, ru~hing down the declivity, would throw allihe animals in a heap on the ice. At ono tim every one thought that some of our animals were ki lied; one mule w:::;s thrown across the others, and it was with great difficulty tbat we could ext~ icate them and set them on their feet. We now form cd a strong p10neer party, and sent them in advance with their axes, pick~ axes, and spades, to break the ice, to strew it with sand, and clear away all obstructions. At last we commenced ascending the ridge which separates the waters of the Arkansas fr.om those of the "Rio Canadian." We reached the top of this dividing ridge in safety; but, as we commenced to descend, one of the wagons slid off sideways, and the fore :vheels being suddenly caught by a deep rut, the axle snapped off In the wheel. We put the greater portion of the load into the other w~gon, and, having lashed a long pole so as to support that extremity of the axle which had been broken off, we dragged the wao-on to our camp at the foot of the slope. 0 One of the men killed a deer durin~ the day· and we endeavored aas , well as w 1d 1 ' . ' 1 . e cou , to con so e ourse ves for the misfortune of the x e With a feast of venison. 1 As ,we :were dete.rmined our m ul cs should not gnaw tbcmse 1 ves oo·wse agam ' w e, th'1 s m' g h t, ma d e them fast w1. th the trace chair1s ewerer 17 'l f . . marched 11 10_'¥1 rot es rom the Canadian, and had this day , m1 es. 'Io·day we sa . b' . the" . , :W some cunous Irds, whtch our old hunters ca1led paisano· ' 1t t · h little known'. s ru~ name Is t e ''geococeyx viaticus." It is so written by Jlt/~at I have appE>ncled a description of it to these notes ''Th a;pr G . .fl.. J,fcCall. ' . e geococeyx . f h. h M . . . "paisano," (coun VIa tcu~, ~ lC ~he exlcans famtharly Cl'lll the to the Rio Gra d try.man ') I.s found m Tex~s, from Lhe river N uc ces n e, lU Mexico;. from the seaboard, at least, to the |