LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 157 



the last mouthful of his portion, the stringiness of which required 

 more than usual dental exertion, when the novelty of the flavor 

 struck him as something singular. Suddenly his jaws ceased 

 their work, he thought a moment, took the morsel from his mouth, 

 looked at it intently, and dashed it into the fire. 



" Man-meat, by G — I" he cried out ; and at the words every 

 jaw stopped work : the trappers looked at the meat and each 

 other. 



" I'm dog-gone if it ain't I" cried old Walker, looking at his 

 piece, " and white meat at that, wagh I" (and report said it was 

 not the first time he had tasted such viands ;) and the conviction 

 seizing each mind, every mouthful was quickly spat into the fire, 

 and the ire of the deceived whites Avas 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, turning 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 mon- 

 strous cotton- wood on the creeks was replaced by oak and ash ; the 

 surface of the countiy grew more undulating, and less broken up 

 into carions 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 

 southeast 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 civilized attire. A bi'Qad-brimmed 



