HO! FOR GRAY'S PEAK! 225 



First, our little four-footers would not or could not 

 quicken their pace, urge them as we would ; second, we 

 desired to name all the birds along the route, and that 

 "without a gun,"" as Emerson mercifully enjoins. 



Have vou ever ridden a burro ? Have you ever been 

 astride of an old one, a hirsute, unkempt, snail-paced, 

 obstinate one, which thinks he knows better what gait 

 he ought to assume than you do ? If you have not, 

 I venture to suggest modestly that your education 

 and moral discipline are not quite complete. The pair 

 which we had hired were slow and headstrong enouf;h 

 to develop the patience of Job in a most satisfactory 

 way, and to test it, too. They were as homely as the 

 proverbial " mud fence " is - supposed to be. Never 

 having seen a fence of that kind, I speak with some 

 degree of caution, not wanting to cast any disparage- 

 ment upon something of which I have so little knowl- 

 edge. If our long-eared companions had ever seen 

 a curry-comb, it must have been in the days of Noah. 

 You see, we were "tenderfoots," as far as having had 

 any experience with burros was concerned, or we might 

 have selected a more sprightly pair for our fellow- 

 pilgrims. A fine picture, fit for the camera or the 

 artist's brush, we presented as we crept with the speed 

 of a tortoise along the steep mountain roads and trails. 

 Our "jacks,*" as Messrs. Longears are called colloquially, 

 were not lazy — oh, no I they were simply averse to 



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