148 IN THE OLD WEST 



and fairly afoot; consequently nothing remained 

 for him but to seek some of the trapping bands, 

 and hire himself for the hunt. Luckily for him, 

 he soon fell in with Roubideau, on his way to 

 Uintah, and was supplied by him with a couple 

 of animals ; and thus equipped, he started again 

 with a large band of trappers, who were going 

 to hunt on the waters of Grand River and the 

 Gila. Here they fell in with another nation of 

 Indians, from which branch out the innumerable 

 tribes inhabiting Northern Mexico and part of 

 California. They were in general friendly, but 

 lost no opportunity of stealing horses or any 

 articles left lying about the camp. On one oc- 

 casion, the trappers being camped on a northern 

 affluent of the Gila, a volley of arrows was dis- 

 charged amongst them, severely wounding one or 

 two of the party as they sat round the camp-fires. 

 The attack, however, was not renewed, and the 

 next day the camp was moved further down the 

 stream, where beaver was tolerably abundant. 

 Before sundown a number of Indians made their 

 appearance, and, making signs of peace, were ad- 

 mitted into the camp. 



The trappers were all sitting at their suppers 

 over the fires, the Indians looking gravely on, 

 when it was remarked that now would be a good 

 opportunity to retaliate upon them for the trouble 

 their incessant attacks had entailed upon the 

 camp. The suggestion was highly approved of, 



