ALONG THE DESERT BORDER. 149 



and fifty men, a force amply sufficient to withstand a large 

 force of Diggers, for whose appearance we kept a strict watch 

 nightly. 



We were under way a little after sunrise the next morning 

 (4th), and crossing a tract of sandy desert, six miles in width, 

 we came upon the valley of the Rio Virgin, and here I cast my 

 eyes on one of the most disagreeable sceneries I saw in my 

 trans-continental trip. Imagine a level, sandy valley, bounded 

 on either side by bluffs of rock and yellow sand, through the 

 centre of which a turbid, crooked river is flowing between 

 steep-cut banks. Imagine the narrow plain covered at inter- 

 vals with weeds and thorns, and a bright noontide sun pour- 

 ing upon the glaring sands its dazzling beams, and you can 

 judge of the impression which the sight of the valley of the Rio 

 Virgin made upon me. A few miles above where we struck it 

 the river flows between precipitous rocks, which rise to the 

 height of two thousand feet, forming a gigantic gateway, 

 through which the muddy waters dash and foam on their way 

 to the sandy plain beyond. Shortly after we entered the valley 

 we met a band of Diggers, who accompanied us for some time. 



Continuing down the dreary valley, over a road filled with 

 deep sand, through Avhich our horses and mules wearily 

 waded, we camped on the right shore of the river, after a 

 journey of eighteen miles. This camp was in New Mexico, 

 through the northwestern part of which the trail passes. Our 

 evening's camp was enlivened by another cotillon, the par- 

 ticipants of which danced to the music of a well-played violin. 

 It was odd to hear sounds of mirth, revelry and music ascend- 

 ing from such a forsaken region. As the Terpsichorean 

 performers moved through the intricate " figures," they would 

 occasionally stumble over the clumps of sage-brush which 

 covered the camp, and considerable confusion was occasioned 

 thereby. A party of Diggers had visited our camp early in 

 the even i no-. Hearing our shouts and music, they repaired in 



