IN THE OLD WEST 143 



To their cost, they proved the old saying, that 

 " a short cut is always a long road," as will be 

 presently shown. 



It has been said that from the south-western 

 extremity of the Great Salt Lake a vast desert 

 extends for hundreds of miles, unbroken by the 

 slightest vegetation, destitute of game and water, 

 and presenting a cheerless expanse of sandy plain 

 or rugged mountain, thinly covered with dwarf 

 pine or cedar, the only evidence of vegetable life. 

 Into this desert, ignorant of the country, the 

 trappers struck, intending to make their short 

 cut ; and, traveling on all day, were compelled to 

 camp at night without w-ater or pasture for their 

 exhausted animals, and themselves ravenous with 

 hunger and parched with thirst. The next day 

 three of their animals gave out, and they Avere 

 fain to leave them behind ; but imagining that 

 they must soon strike a creek, they pushed on 

 until noon, but still no water presented itself, 

 nor a sign of game of any description. The ani- 

 mals were nearly exhausted, and a horse which 

 could scarcely keep up with the slow pace of the 

 others was killed, and its blood greedily drunk 

 — a portion of the flesh being eaten raw, and a 

 supply carried with them for future emergencies. 



The next morning two of the horses lay dead 

 at their pickets, and one only remained, and this 

 in such a miserable state that it could not possibly 

 have traveled six miles further. It was there- 



