50 ELDORADO 



the simplest and most primitive kind, and anyone that 

 ever had experience in packing, knows the difficulty of 

 keeping the saddle in place, even with the best Spanish 

 hair cinches. Ours would as often be on the withers, 

 hips or underneath the animals, as in the proper place. 

 The result of this state of things was severe friction 

 causing badly galled and sore backs. By a little ex- 

 perience, patience and determination, those difficulties 

 were in time overcome. 



Being no longer impeded in our journey by our wag- 

 ons, we were enabled to make much better progress 

 and obtain feed for our stock at much less sacrifice of 

 time and trouble. The change proved a decided ad- 

 vantage to our animals, which had become thin and 

 weak. They, being our main dependence, received the 

 very best care possible. We fully realized that it was 

 far better to walk without carrying blankets, cooking 

 utensils and "grub," as many others had done — espe- 

 cially those who had started with ox or cow teams — 

 than to assume those burdens. We became accustomed 

 to that sort of thing in the mines later on, when it was 

 the almost universal custom. 



We had no tents or covering of any kind, except in 

 good weather the blue skv and in foul weather the 

 clouds. This was our condition for many months ; not 

 even a tree for shelter. When we encountered cold, 

 driving storms, not alcie of rain, but of sleet a'ld snow 

 we aimed to camp where fuel could be obtained a^d 

 kept our fires reDle^ished during the niVht. and while 

 exnosinp- one side, dried the other, while joke and song 

 passed abound. 



Sometimes a sudden stonn would come down the 

 mountain range, when, after a wearisome day's march. 



