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<br />14 <br /> <br />REPORT OF AN EXPEDITION DOWN THE <br /> <br /> <br />'growth, with here [lnd there cedars, scrub~oaks, locusts, and <br />the Pallugia pamcloxa, described in Major Emory's report. <br />OefobcT 24, Camp No. 22.-Leaving behind us the moun- <br />tains and the stream, whose course was too much to the <br />southward, we struck out west across the plain. The ground <br />was much broken by precipitous ravines, in one of which <br />'~ere seen masses of porphyry and .quartz, th~ only excep- <br />tlOns to the usual trap we had met smce reachmg the moun- <br />tains. <br />Octobcr 25, Camp No. 23.-In the course of the day we <br />passed a ~e,wgro\'es of. the comm?n cedar, the only ~ree to <br />be seen. I he grass, 01 good quality, was parched With the <br />continued drought, and the soil, loose and dryas ashes, gave <br />little hope of l-ilHlil1g water. <br />October 26, Camp No. 24.-At daylight it was discovered <br />that a dozen mulcs were missing. Their tracks showed that <br />they had gone back upon our trail,and some men were des- <br />patched La recover them j while the rest of the party pursued <br />their journey across a rocky ridge thickly overgrown with ce- <br />dars, who"e low branches, frequently sweeping off a pack, <br />rendered the march slow and laborious. When we stopped <br />to rest in the middle of the day the animals, overcome with <br />thirst and fatigue, refused to graze, and huddled together un- <br />der the shade of the trees. Before resuming the march, a <br />gourd of water and some bread were left for the men who <br />had been sent hack in search of the missing mules j and, <br />after a march of seven miles further, we encamped the third <br />night without water. <br />OctobcT 27, Cam}) No. 25.- A" few hours after setting out, <br />fresh signs of Indians began to make their appearance, and <br />increased as we advanced, in frequency and numbers, until <br />we came upon a well-marked and newly-made trail, leading <br />to the northward of our course, but into which we turned in <br />the hope of its leading us to water. Having pursued it in <br />silence a few miles, we surprised a party of ten or twelve of <br />the most wretched looking Indians I have ever seen, naked, <br />and apparently almost starved. They all fled, except an old <br />man and a woman, whom we attempted to conciliate with <br />some presents j but were not successful in allaying their fears, <br />althongh the llIall finally undertook to direct us to water. <br />The mules werc therefore unpacked and sent off under his <br />guidance. He conducted them to 1\\'0 smaU springs in a <br />rocky gorge, some ten miles distant j but, in their eagerness <br /> <br />{ <br /> <br />t;1 <br /> <br />~ll'. <br /> <br /> <br />ZUNI AND" COLORADO RIVERS. <br /> <br />15 <br /> <br />to drink, the ground was soon trampled into a mere mass of <br />mud, so that very few were enabled to quench their thirst. <br />The Indian watched his opportunity, when not observed, to <br />slip from his mule and escape among the rocks j but as he <br />had performed the only service we required of him, no at- <br />tempt waS made to retnke him. <br />OctobeT 28, Ca.m}l No. 26.-As there was no other alterna- <br />tive, the camp was removed to the vicinity of the springs and <br />the men set to work at clearing them out. By this means, <br />and leading two or three at a time to water, in the course or <br />this and the following day a small quantity was obtained iar <br />each animal, barely enough to keep them alive, but not <br />-enough to nUay their thirst, as their relllsal to eat and plain- <br />tive cries too clearly proved. <br />The continued absence of the men who had been sent back <br />on the 26th upon the tracks of the missing mules created <br />.great fears for their safety, or lest they had returned to Z uili i <br />and their arrival there, it was apprehended, would give rise <br />to unfavorable rumors in regard to the party. Our anxiety <br />was relieved, however, by their reappenrance in camp. They <br />had succeeded in finding the mules and bringing them within <br />a day's march of camp, when half the number had agnin <br />made their escape. During their absence of four days the <br />men had suffi~red much from hunger and thirst, having taken <br />but one day's rations with them, aIld being without water, <br />except a small gourd full that one of them had been provident <br />enough to conceal beiare setting out. The bread and water <br />we had left for them, though placed conspicuously in the <br />middle of our trail, had not been discovered by them, and <br />was probably carried off by the' Indians. <br />A party sent out to reconnoitre brought back the gratifying <br />intelligence that lwe~ve miles in advance was a smaJJ stream <br />of running water amI an abundance of tolerable grass. A <br />band or Yampais were found encamped upon it, from whom <br />Mr. Leroux learned that the numerous trails we had observed <br />for the last two or three days united and led to the country of <br />the Mohaves, and that ~heir camp was but one day's journey <br />from the ri vcr. <br />October 30, Camp No. 27.-This rivulet, which I have called <br />the Yampai, has its source in three sll1a]\ springs j it is re- <br />peatedly lost in the ground within a distance of half a mile j <br />aller which it disappears entirely. A Ie,'" willa,,, and cotton- <br />wood trees grow upon its banks, and green grass was here <br /> <br />;.)..:'~ . ;';.~'L. '&:,.l~:~ <br /> <br />l~6b.4'-....t .1l:i~J:.t_., 44.1;, <br />