OCR Text |
Show 181 he spoke, to the top of a mountain a few miles distant. A party of horsemen, supplied with canteens, as many as they could carry, went with him to find the spring. Upward we toiled for miles finding no rivulet or spring and we bagan to think he was deceiving us as he still pointed to the very top of the mountain, and we felt sure there could be no spring there. Arrived at the summit, the Indian lifted a large flat stone and disclosed a natural tank or hole in the rock containing about two barrels of pure, cold water. Lifting other flat stones we found several other tanks partly filled with water, cool and inexpressibly delicious to the thirsty, tongue-swollen soul. These holes are filled during the season of rains and are then carefully covered for preservation. And to get a drink one must spend nearly a day in a toilsome trip up and down a rugged 26 mountain. Such was the undeniable necessity of water to life in this thirsty land and the exigency of the Indian guides in locating this limited resouce. On May 6 the Southern Exploring Company completed the filling of its water casks at Desert Spring Wells and continued its journey west toward the White Mountains. |