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Show CHAPTER XXVII. THE SETTLEMENTS. " And some are in a far countree, And some all restlessly at home; But never more, ah never, we Shall meet to revel and to roam." SIEGE OF CORINTH. THE next day was extremely hot, and we rode from morn. ing till night without seeing a tree, or a bush, or a drop of water. Our horses and mules suffered much more than we, but as iUnset approached, they pricked up their ears and mended their pace. Water was not far off. When we came to the descent of the broad shallow valley where it lay, an unlooked. for sight awaited us. The stream glistened at the bottom, and along its banks were pitched a multitude of tents, while hundreds of cattle were feeding over the meadows. Bodies of troops, both horse and foot, and long trains of wagons with men, women, and children, were moving over the opposite ridge and descending the broad declivity in front. These were the Mormon battalion in the service of government, together with a considerable number of Missouri Volunteers. The Mormons were THE SETTLEMENTS. 437 to be paid off in California, and they were allowed to bring with them their families and property. There was something very strikjng in the half-military, half-patriarchal appearance of these armed fanatics, thus on their way with their wives and children, to found, it might be, a Mormon empire in California. We were much more astonished than pleased at the sight before us. In order to find an unoccupied campingground, we were obliged to pass a quarter of a mile up the stream, and here we were soon beset by a swarm of Mormons and Missourians. The United States officer in command of the whole came also to visit us, and remained some time at our camp. In the morning the country was covered with mist. We were always early risers, but before we were ready, the voices of men driving in the cattle sounded all around us. As we passed above their camp, we saw through the obscurity that the tents were falling, and the ranks rapidly forming ; and mingled with the cries of women and children, the rolling of the Mormon drums and tbe clear blast. of their trumpets sounded through the mist. From that time to the journey's end, we met almost every day long trains of government wagons, laden with stores for the troops, and crawling at a snail's pace towards Santa Fe. Tete Rouge had a mortal antipathy to danger, but on a foraging expedition one evening, he achieved an adventure more perilous than had yet befallen any man in the party· The night after we left the Ridge-Path we encamped close to the l'iver. At sunset we saw a train of wagons encamping on the trail about three mnes off· and though we saw them distinctly, our 'little cart, as it. afte1:ward proved, entirely escaped their |