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Show [ 174 J 268 istcncc. The formation here consists of fine ye11ow sandstone alt ing with a coarse conglomerate, in which the stones arc from the ~rnat. · or d l· llary grave l to SI· X or c1. g l1 t m. crt1 e 1. n dt' ameter This is the for SIZe . of 'vhich renders the surface of the country so rocky;and gives us now ~~~~11 altcru_ately of loose he~vy sands anti rolled stones, which cripple the ani~ 1nals m a most extraordwary manner. On the following mon.liug we loft the Rio de los .Jlnrrclr;s a11d c 011 t· d our way t h1 · ougI1 . t 11 e same desolate and revoltm. g country,' where liztnaurde s were the onl r anuual' and the lracl~s of the lizard eaters the principal si 11 of human bemgs. Afler twenty miles' tnat:ch through a road of hills a~d hea_vy sands, we reached the most dreary n ver I ba ve ever seen-a dee raptd stream, almost a torrent. j)as~ing swiflly by n.nd rou1 " 11g "O" · t bp t 0 Tl b , 0 0 ' ' ~ noUin 0 0 s ructwns. 10 ank were wooded wJth willow, acacia, and a fre uent pl~nt of I h.e cot~ntry _already menti?ned, ( Ga·rrya cltiptica,) growi~o- in thickets, rcsemblmg wtllo w, aud bcanng a small pink flower. Grossi no it w~ cn~an~~e~ on the left l_>ank, ~here ~ve found a very little grass. ~u; tht_e~ letn,~Hllllg steers, ?emg enttrely given out, were lcillcd here. B the bo1lwg l~omt, the elevatwn of the river here is 4 060 feet· and Jatitud~ b ob~ervat101~: 36° 41' 33". 'rhe tream was n~nn_iug towa;ds the soutln;eJ an appe.aJ ed_ to con1e f•:om a nowy mount am 111 the north. It proved t~ be t\10 R_~o Vtrge,~-a tnbutary to the Colorado. Iudiaus appeared in bands on .t _1e lu I , but dtd ~lot con1c into can1p. For several day we co~tinued ot~I/otu~ey up_ the nver, the bottoms of which were thickly overo-rown w~t 1 vanous kmds of brush ; and the sandy soil \Vas absolute! y c~vered wn1h the track of ./Jig,ers, who followed us stealthily like a baud of wo v_es; an~ we ll_ad 110 opportunity to leave behind, eve~ for a few hours J!1~ llred ammals, In order that they might be brought into camp after d ~tt e1 repose.. A horse or tnule, left behind, was taken off in a moment 1i ~1 t te cvenJug of th~ 8th, having travelled 28 miles up the river from ou; 1st encampment on 1l we d 1· 1 f 1 . ' encampc at a ttt e grass plat where a spring ~ t~oo wa~er 1 sued from the blutl'. On the opposite .ide' was a o-rove of ?tl OU\~doo sl at the mouth of a fork, which here enters the riv~r On e1 1cr st e t 1e valley is bou d d b . f . · rocky and l . l r., 11 e Y langes o IllOtmtains, every where high, couut;. H 0 {CU. 1 he cara vau road was lost and scattered in the sandy 1 _y, 1and we 1md been following an Indian trail up the river The ,lUJ1tets t Je ~ext day were sent out to reconnoitre and in the mea~1 time ::.:s1;10 v~,11~ o~t ~ mile farther up, where we fou:td a good little patch of ~cnt ~·tl re cmg only nfficient grass for the 11ight the horses were 1 l a strorJO" guard iu charg f T b ? where they mjO"htt:> < • •• c 0 a -eau to a neto-hboring hollow, dians should 1~ak~a.sttu e dmlllg lhc daY ; _and, to be ready in case the Iuwere picket d r t l dny attempt on the ammals, several of the best horses foutld a co e ~ t ler car~p. In a few hours the hunters returued baving the other sindv cment 1ord 11 1 tl le n·v er, au d d1· scovered the pauish ' trail on e. I had been eno-agcd ·11 • · . the day I fell a l . . 1 anangmg plant ; and, fattgued with the heat of Presentiy c s cep m the afternoon: and did not a wake until sundown. day had lefta rhsio n ocsatm e to lne. ' a 11 d 1. c porteu. 1 I 1" . t 1at a beau, who early 111 the we l1ad left · p 'land, Wllhout n1y knowledge, rode back to the camp ' 111 searc l of a latne I J ,1 speakino- a smol mu e, Iau. not returned. While we were plainly f~Jd us w~c ~olse dsuddenly fro_m tb~ cotton wood grove below, which rounding Indians \~latla bblefallen hun; It \Va rai..ed to iuform the sur· a ow had been struck, and to tell them to be on 269 [ 174 J their guard: Carson, wi~h se~eral mc~1 well. mount~c] ~ was instant]~ s~nt down the nver, but rctmncd 1n the mght without tJdtngs of the mtssmg man. They went to the camp W? had left, but neither he nor the mule was there. Searching down ~lie rJvcr, they found the tracks ~f the mule, evidently drive~ along hY: lnut~ns, \\1 hose tra?ks were on each stde of those made by the ammal. Alter going se\7 eral mJie~, they carne to the 1nute itself standing in some bushes, mortally wouudod in the side by an nrrow, and Jeft to die, that it might be afterwards butchered for food. TlH~y also found in another place, as they were hnn ting about on the gronnd for Tabeau'~ tracks, something that looked like a Jiale puddle of blood, hnt which the darkness prevented them from verifying.. With these details they returned to our camp, and their report saddene,rl all our hearts. May 10.-This mornin_g, as soot_I a tl:ere was light cnou~h to follo\v tracks, I set out myself, wlth Mr. Fttzpatnck au, u several men, m search of Tabeuu. We went to the spot \vherc the appeara 11ce of puddled blood had been seen; and this, \Ve saw at once, had bccu the place wbcrc he fell and died. Blood upou the ]caves, aud b atcu down busJ.\cs, showed that he had got his wound about t'venty paces from where he fell , mHl tltat he had _struggled for his life. He had probably been shot tltroug ·h the lungs With an arrow. From the place where be Jay and bled, it could be seen that he had been dragged to the river bank, and thrown into it. 1\ To v~stigc of wl~at had belonged to b im could be fonnd, except a fragment o-f hrs lw~·se eqmpment. Horse, gun, clothes-all became the prey of these A tabs oi the New World. Tabeau had been one of onr best n1cn, and his nuhappy <.. loath spread a gloom over our party. Men, who have gone through such dangers and sufferings as we had seen, bccotne like brothers, and feel each other's. loss. 'l'o defend and avenge each other, is the deep feel ing of all. .We wt~hcd to avenge his death; but the condition of our horses, languishing for grass and repo~c, fo.t;bade an expedition into unknown monntains. We h ·n_ew the tribe who had done the mischief-the same which lind been insult mg our camp. They knew what they deserved, a11d had tlte discretion to .sho'v themselves to ns uo more. The day before, they iufesletl onr camp; uow, not one appeared; nor did we ever afterwards see but one who even helonged to the same tribe, and he at a distance. Our camp was in a basin below a deep caiion-a gap of two thousat. 'd feet deep in the monntain-throngh \Vhich the Jlio F·irgcn passes, utll ~ where no man or beast could follow it. The Spani, h trail, which \VO had lost in the sands of the basin, was on the opposite s1do of the rive.r. We c~o.ssed over to it, and followed it northwardly towards a g~1p w1uc_h,\vas vtslble in the mountain. We approached it hy a defile, r_eudcretl diiiiCult for our barefooted nnimals by the rocks strewrd along 1t; anfl here the country changed its character. From the time we 011 te1 eel the desert, t_he mountains had been bald and rocky; here they began to be wooded wtth cedar ~nd pine, aud clusters of trees gave shelter to bin.ls-a ne\v and welcome s1ght-which could not have lived in the desert we had passed. Descending a long hollo\v, towards the narrow valley of a stream, \Ve sa.w h~fore us a snowy mountain far beyond which app 'arccl auothcr more loity stll!. Good bunch grass bega'n to appear on the hill .. ides, and hf~re \Ve fonncl a smgular variety of i11trrcstino shrubs. The cll<Htg ·d a ppcarance of the conn try infused among our people a more lively spirit, w hi cit was heighteuod |