ELDORADO 109 



grant to take my traps 100 miles down to the sink in 

 the ?Iumboldt, where I hoped to find my partners, if I 

 did not do so before reaching there. I was weary with 

 my tramp, there was no shade, and the mid-day sun 

 shone with a fierce heat. With the exception of the 

 great desert, the Humboldt country is by far the most 

 forbidding and desolate region of the entire route from 

 the Missouri river to the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

 The water of the river is colored with alkali drained 

 from the extensive hills on either side, and has a 

 sweetish, slippery taste, very unwholesome for man or 

 beast. There was not a tree to break the monotony of 

 the landscape, where rain seldom falls. 



After passing an hour in "happy" contemplation of 

 my present surroundings, looking back along the road 

 over which I had come, I noticed in the distance two 

 packers, each riding a horse and leading another. As 

 they came nearer I discovered a loose animal trailing 

 behind them, and soon saw it was my lost black pony 

 with the watch-eyes. She appeared to be looking for 

 something. Upon inquiry, I was informed they first 

 discovered her about three miles back, coming at a 

 pretty fast gait from a canyon in the foothills, and she 

 had followed close to them since. As she came up to 

 me she gave a little whinny, saying, so far as horse 

 language could be understood. "I am glad to be back." 

 or "aren't you glad I come?" She was no doubt spir- 

 ited away during the night by strolling Indians, and 

 by some means had made her escape. I began to feel 

 much concern at the non-appearance of my partners, 

 believing there had been some unusual cause of delay, 

 or that a misfortune of some kind had befallen them. 



