116 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



higher up the river. That night I slept in Foote's 

 waggon and before I left was taken round to see the 

 claims, each with irrigating ditch and boards, in the 

 thick undergrowth by the river. 



Next day, with Mr. Foote, after a considerable de- 

 tour, I at length found my party camped about six 

 miles off. They, too, had been prosecuting a search 

 for me in various directions without success. Mrs. 



M , quite the Diana of the West, had been out 



stalking antelope, and had secured a supply of veni- 

 son. All "Western ladies mount their horses unassisted, 



and Mrs. M , besides hunting antelope and other 



game alone on a mustang, was also in the habit of 

 skinning, quartering, and bringing back the meat 

 herself on her saddle. 



A doe antelope used to come regularly every even- 

 ing to lick at an alkaline deposit close to one of our 

 camps, and was, of course, left unmolested. 



Frank devoted himself to fishing, and caught nearly 

 a hundred trout with chunks of antelope meat on a 

 large hook tied to a string. Though not shy, trout 

 were not numerous. 



A curious meteorological phenomenon was the 

 regular appearance of three or four thunderstorms 

 every afternoon. When I returned in September, 

 however, to the same spot, these had entirely ceased, 

 and hardly any rain fell. 



They seemed to be particularly attracted by the 

 mountain ranges near the divide, since a few miles 

 farther east they hardly ever occurred. The first 



