LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 187 



of the deceived whites was instantly turned upon the 

 luckless providers of the feast. They saw the storm 

 that was brewing, and without more ado turned tail 

 from the camp, and scuttled up the bluffs, where, turn- 

 ing round, they fired a volley of arrows at the tricked 

 mountaineers, and instantly disappeared. 



However, the desert and its nomade pilferers were 

 at length passed ; the sandy plains became grass- 

 covered prairies ; the monstrous cottonwood on the 

 creeks was replaced by oak and ash ; the surface of the 

 country grew more undulating, and less broken up into 

 caflons and ravines ; elk and deer leaped in the bottoms, 

 and bands of antelope dotted the plains, with occasional 

 troops of wild horses, too wary to allow the approach of 

 man. On the banks of a picturesque stream called the 

 San Joaquim, the party halted a few days to recruit 

 themselves and animals, feasting the while on the fattest 

 of venison and other game. They then struck to the 

 south-east for two days, until they reached a branch of 

 the " Las Animas," a clear stream running through a 

 pretty valley, well timbered and abounding in game. 

 Here, as they wound along the river-banks, a horseman 

 suddenly appeared upon the bluff above them, galloping 

 at a furious rate along the edge. His dress approached 

 in some degree to civilised attire. A broad-brimmed 

 sombrero surmounted his swarthy face ; a coloured 

 blanket, through a slit in which his head was thrust, 

 floated in the air from his shoulders ; leathern leggings 

 encased his lower limbs ; and huge spurs jingled on his 

 heels. He rode in a high-peaked Mexican saddle, his 



