THE CAMPING QKOUND. 197 



less than an Lour the surface of the snow, which had be- 

 come softened during the day by the sun's rays, had a stiff 

 crust frozen upon it, through which the unfortunate animals 

 continually broke, cutting their legs, and distressing them- 

 selves by plunging. 



"We struggled on until about 5 o'clock, when I gave in 

 and camped for the night. 



"Our camping ground was a sheltered little nook in a 

 canon, strewn with big loose rocks, and surrounded with a 

 fringe of quaking aspens, the site, undoubtedly, of a spring 

 now frozen, for a little thicket of dwarf willows testified 

 to the fact ; to these the animals were tied, and after 

 devouring their small and insufficient feeds of corn they 

 gnawed the branches within reach in a hungry manner quite 

 distressing to see, occasionally taking a munch at the snow 

 by way of a drink. 



" We found difficulty in collecting fuel, and had to content 

 ourselves with small sticks ; we therefore made only a 

 little fire, and lay down to pass the night one on each side 

 of it, each with a pile of sticks within his reach to feed the 

 fire from whenever he should awake; and awake one or 

 both of us continually did, since we could not keep warm for 

 long at a time. 



" I started very early in the morning, hoping the crust on 

 the snow would remain for some hours sufficiently hard 

 frozen to support the weight of the animals, and as we 

 relieved them of our burden by walking, they got along 

 tolerably well, seldom breaking through. 



" I was very doubtful of my way, but the canon we were 

 in was gradually getting wider and flatter, the elevations on 



