Through Arizona to San Diego 147 



cactus, took shovels to dig him out, and after clear- 

 ing away the brush soon found the holes the snakes 

 live in. At about two feet down they came to a 

 tolerably large female, which had in her nest nine 

 young; beautiful little creatures, about a foot long; 

 they had great courage, and coiled and struck with 

 fury at anything placed near them. 



September I Jth. Near Papagos^ villages. Last 

 night, as for many preceding evenings, we sat down 

 to our supper of bread and water, our sugar, cofifee 

 and all other matters culinary having been used 

 up, and the country affords no game. We all 

 felt the want of cofifee or meat, after being up from 

 5 a. m. to 7 p. m., but we shall I hope, soon be 

 through this desolate country. Four days since 

 one of the party killed the largest and finest buck 

 antelope I ever saw, and we expected a treat, but 

 it was like the meat of a poor two-year-old beef, 

 hardly so good. We found the horns of a Rocky 

 Mountain sheep, and of the black-tailed deer, but 

 none have been killed, or even seen as yet. 



The little water-holes we came to, were filled 

 with animalculae, and contained many turtles and 

 snakes, and a few frogs and toads. For lizards this 

 country cannot be surpassed; one little beauty with 

 a banded tail runs before us and across our path by 



^ The Papago Indians belonged to the Piman family, but 

 had separated from the Pimas at the time of their conversion 

 lay the Spanish missionaries. 



