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Show 96 A A TTEl\'IPT TO T AICE WILD HORSES. was then J ry, for several hund t·ed yards ; and was the principal crossing for the horses, from a n island containing se veral thousand acres, which was fot·med by the slou gh. The re weJ'e two large bands upon the island when we anived, and we made an effort to drive them into the coral; but th ey took another crossing, and we did not succeed. Our fri end pu t·sued the first banrl that left the island, with the lassoo, endeavoring to take a fine mule, which he selected; but his horse being fatigu ed, he was 1not able to come up with it. \Vhen ~he second started, we put spur for the cwssing which thev were about to take, nnd arrived at the same time that • the foremost horses of the band leaped down into the water. We endeavored to turn them~ whooping and. yelling most manfully, but those behind, urging those b,efore, forced th em forward, and they began to rush by. The pass was nanow, ami the dust su obscured us, that th ey frequently ran nea1· enough fot· us to strike them in the side3 as they we re passing; but we we1·e at length compelled to retire, on account of the suffucating effect of the dust. P~·esently, again approaching, with whooping and yelling, we endeavored, the second time, to turn them; but they only gave way, and closed around us, and the dust again obliged us to retire:;we finally succeeded in turning a few of the last, yet they were so determined to follow the othe r'3, that we only drove them a few hundred yards, towards the coral, before they plunged down a perpendicular bank, fifte en o1· twenty fee t, into the slough, burying themselves completely under the wate1· ; aud gaining the opposite shore, followed the band. The Spania1·ds often take the wild hol·ses in this manne1·, and frequently ,. by pursuing them, upon the open plain. When they have taken one,. they confine it, with ropes, saddle it, put a halter on it, and having again loosened it, they mount, and ride it furiously, until it is completely exhausted. And they continue to do this, until the animal becomes tame, and tract· able. These wild horses are of almost every color; some of them have a very fine appearance, but they are much smaller than well· bred horses; and their habits are, in some respects, entirely different from those of the domestic horses. From the coral, we proceeded across the country, to Monte Rev. Arriving at MonteRey, we found a. gentleman and his- family, who had left the States with us, and with whom, as we have before mentio~ed, ~e traveled, as far as Fort Hall. They left Fort Hall for Ca~1forma, under the pilotage of Captain Walker, about the same time that we left it, for the Falls of the Willammette. Afte.r EMIGRANT~ TO CALlFORNIA. 97 traveling tluough the dreary country of which we have spoken, ns r. the California Mountains, they followed that range South, sev· ,ar as W 1 · b eral hundred miles, and entet·ed the Valley of the St. . a une, Y Walket·'s P~ss. The small supply of provisions; whiCh, ~y very unpleasant means, they at length procured at Fort Hall, alter con· tinued and persevering effort; were exhauste~, long before they could reach a place where they could be res uppl1ed. A c-ountry so barren, as that through which they were :ompelled to travel, af .. forded, neither game, nor food of any ktnd, exeep~ tha: upon which the few miserable and beast like lndian3, who whabtt t~at region, su bsist-lizzards, cri?kets, ants, and the like-and whtch would, of course, be revolting to the pdlate of any other people,. unless in the very extremity of starvation. They suffer:d extreme· ly; and before they arrived at the Pass, they were ~rtven to the· necessity, of eatin~ some of the mules and hot·ses, whtch had served them so faithfully, and which were then poor, and worn out with fatigue, f1·om long and laborious traveling, over a country s.o rough and barren. They left their wagons, and much ?f ~he1r baggage; and packing what they c~uld, ~ u.p·on the remamdcr of their fatigued unimals, they succeeded 1~ gam111g the Pas's.. W h~~ they came into the Vailey of the St. Waione, t?ey fared mo~·~· bountt· fully upon the w,il'd hot·ses, which they f?und ~~ good c~nd1twn, and in great abundance. They finally arnve~, In the .wm.ter, at tl)e settleme::tts ·; and after suffering all hardsh1 ps and pn vatwns, w~re pt·epared to relish, in no common degt·ee, the abundance whiCh they afforded. We also, had an opportunity, during OLH stay in the country, of seP-ing most of' those, with whom we parted at Fort Bo.ise, on. S~afm Rive 1•• The gentleman in whose company we were at th1s t1me, was one of that party. They followed the route which they expected, at the time of our separation, to foll'ow; experiencing, fortunately., not so much difficulty in finding it, as had been anticipated. Having left the head of the Malheur ~iver, and traveled over a barren, sandy country, about two days, w1thout water, they at length, after ascending a high mountain, came upon a lofty, but beautiful table land; rich, and wooded with pines, or varied by prairies, . and coursed by many dear mountain streams. They discovered, what they supposed to be the head of the WiHam .. mette, and cone·cted an err01··, which had previously been e·ntertained, concerning the source of the Sacramento. They had expected to endure suffering; and in this they were· not mistaken. 13 |