A MULE TRAIN IN A BLIZZARD. 129 



Very great losses, as we have said, are frequently 

 caused by these terrific gales, which are known as 

 " blizzards * in the United States. Captain Marcy, U.S.A., 

 in his " Prairie Traveller " for instance states that, " while 

 passing near the head waters of the Colorado in 

 October 1849, he was overtaken by one of these storms. 

 He tells us that he left the camp 



"at an early hour in the morning, under a mild and soft 

 atmosphere, with a gentle breeze from the South, and had 

 marched only a short distance when the wind suddenly 

 whipped round to the North, bringing with it a furious 

 chilling rain, and in a short time the road became so soft 

 and heavy as to make drawing the waggons very exhausting 

 for the mules, and they came into camp in a profuse sweat. 

 They were turned out of harness into the most sheltered 

 place that could be found ; but instead of eating, as was their 

 custom, they turned their heads from the wind and remained 

 in that position, chilled and trembling, without making the 

 least effort to move. The rain continued with unabated fury 

 during the entire day and night, and on the following morn- 

 ing 35 out f ll mules had perished, while those remaining 

 could hardly be said to have a spark of vitality remaining, 

 and could with difficulty walk."* 



In this instance it will be observed, that the storm 

 was accompanied by rains, instead of, as is more com- 

 monly the case, by snows; it is therefore clear that 

 it was not a blizzard of the most severe kind or one 

 accompanied by a very high degree of intense cold and 

 yet the loss, in a single night, amounted to about 

 one third of the animals drawing their waggons a 

 ruinous loss to a military transport train. Exposure 



* The Prairie Traveller, a handbook for Overland Expeditions, by 

 R.M. Marcy, Captain U.S.A., p. 57, Section on "Storms." (Published 

 New York, 1859). 



VOL. I. 



