136 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 



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 run- 

 ning 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 feet thrust in 

 ponderous stirrups, and in his hand swung a coil of ready 

 lasso, his only offensive arm. One of the trappers knew a 

 little Spanish, and instantly hailed him. 



" Compadre" he shouted, " por onde va?" The Cali- 

 fornian reined in suddenly, throwing the horse he rode on 

 its very haunches, and, darting down the bluff, galloped 

 unhesitatingly into the midst of the hunters. 



"Americanos ! " he exclaimed, glancing at them ; and 

 continued, smiling " T caballos quieren, por eso vienen 

 tan lejitos. Jesus, que mala genie!" "It's horses you 

 want, and for this you come all this way. Ah, what rogues 

 you are ! " 



He was an Indian, employed at the Mission of San Fer- 

 nando, distant three days' journey from their present 

 position, and was now searching for a band of horses and 

 mules which had strayed. San Fernando, it appeared, had 

 once before been visited by a party of mountain freebooters, 

 and the Indian therefore divined the object of the present 

 one. He was, he told them, " un Indio, pero mansito " 

 an Indian, but a tame one ; * " de mas, Christiana " a 

 Christian, moreover (exhibiting a small cross which hung 

 round his neck). There were many people about the Mis- 

 sion, he said, who knew how to fight, and had plenty of 



* The Mexicans call the Indians living near the Missions and en- 

 gaged in agriculture, mansos, ormansiros, "tame." 



