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Show 236 PERSONAL ADVENrrURES abundance of wild oats, atnongst which we turned our horses, having first relieved them of their packs and saddles ; and, lighting our fire, search ·was rnade for water at a darklooking spot some short distance off, where we felt sure of finding a supply. It proved muddy, however; and we recotnmenced a long and anxious search, which fortunately terminated by our procuring a canfull of tolerable quality. We had all lain down to sleep, except Monsieur Frederic, whose turn it was to watch ; and I was dozing and dreaming, when his voice, as he indulged in a series of oaths in his native tongue, suddenly aroused me. I heard a plunging, and a wrestling, and tramp· ling of hoofs, and Rounds of blows, but without beinO' able to discover the cause until I b betook myself to the spot. By the light of the fire, I beheld him flourishing hiH cutlass over one of the horses, which, every now and then he struck with the flat side of the ' \Veapon, whilst the animal struggled despe· rately to get away from him. In a few IN CALIFORNIA. 237 seconds, the creature became tolerably quiet; and, as I drew nearer, I observed that it had been lassoed by the Frenchman, who, now bringing it to the ground, proceeded to probe its foot. The poor thing had been limping painfully along the last day or ~wo, a~d F~ederic was determined to ease It against Its setting out on the morrow's journey. He soon extracted a large pebble from the creature's foot, and, fumbling in his canvass-bag, produced a piece of stout leather, some cord, and a sail-maker's needle, by the help of which, and the exercise of sorne ingenuity, he succeeded in fixing upon the hoof a very fair substitute for a shoe : at any rate, it promised to afford the poor beast protection for a time from the sharp stones, and I do not know whether the horse or his master was the better pleased at the success of this novel experiment in farriery. I know the animal's pace over the sand was considerably improved by it, and that Monsieur Frederic got great praise for his cleverness. Before we started next morning, we held a |
