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Show 114 SEVENTY- MILE DESERT- EMIGRANT CACHE. through a. mass of dark and threatening clouds. The wind was fresh and cold, and the mud soft and tenacious, making the travelling very slow and fatiguing. During the night, we passed five wagons and one cart, which had stuck fast in the mud, and been necessarily left by their owners, who, from appearances, had abandoned every thing, fearful of perishing themselves in this inhospitable desert. Great quantities of excellent clothing, tool- chests, trunks, scientific books, and, in fact, almost every thing, both useless and necessary on a journey of this kind, had been here left strewn over the plain. Many articles had not even been removed from the wagons. The carcasses of several oxen lying about on the ground satisfactorily explained the whole matter. In attempting to cross the plain, the animals had died from exhaustion and want of water, and the wagons and their contents had of course to be abandoned. About one o'clock in the morning, we halted in the midst of the plain, enticed by the sight of a broken ox- yoke, the remains of a barrel, and part of an old wagon- bed, which served for fuel sufficient to boil a little coffee, of which all hands stood very much in need. The mud was ankle- deep; and the only • place upon which we could spread down a blanket to sleep was around some scattering bushes of artemisia, where the wind had collected a little sand, presenting a spot rather higher and not so 1 wet aa the mud- flat around. The whole scene was as barren, dreary, and desolate as could be well imagined. We gave the mules a portion of the grass that had been packed upon them in the morning, and two pint- cups of water each- the only liquid they had tasted during the day. We then fastened them up as well as we could to the artemisia- bushes, and, wrapping ourselves in our blankets, lay down to wait for the morning. The night ^ as windy and quite cold, and the poor nfules kept up such a pitiful and mournful cry, that we were but little recruited by our night's rest. It may well be supposed that there were few attractions to detain us long on this spot. We had exhausted our fuel last night, and there was nothing with which to cook breakfast; so we started quite early without any, pursuing the same general course through the heavy mud. The wind, uninterrupted by any obstacle, blew hard over the level plain; and although the thermometer stood at only 47°, yet it was very cold, and brought into requisition all appliances for preventing the escape of animal heat. In the course of the morning, we passed a spot where some emigrants had made a large |