ALONG THE DESERT BORDER. 151 



faction. The Indian dog, under protest, was absorbed into 

 our mess, while the Mormon pup was doubtless soon assimi- 

 lated into the aboriginal system. The Indians have a penchant 

 for cooked dog, from the half-civilized tribe bordering the 

 western frontiers to the brutish wretches who infest the Great 

 Sandy Desert, 



Throughout the forty miles which we traveled along the 

 valley of the Rio Virgin, the same general features were 

 presented : a sandy bottom of various width, bordered by 

 square-cut bluffs which increased in height as we advanced. 

 We used sparingly of the water of the river, which possesses 

 deleterious qualities, as its upper tributaries are fed by 

 poisonous springs. We crossed the river twelve or thirteen 

 times at rocky or quicksandy fords, where the stream was so 

 deep that its rushing waters came up to the beds of the 

 wagons, which were som^etimes in danger of being swept down 

 the current. The road w^as a bad one the whole distance, 

 passing over a continuous bed of deep, yielding sand, Avhich 

 worried our teams so badly that the passengers were obliged 

 to make pedestrianism a profession a good portion of the way. 



At sunset on the 5th we reached that point on the Rio 

 Virgin where the Santa Fe trail leaves it and strikes south- 

 westwardly across the Sandy Desert. We encamped on the 

 shore about a mile from the mesa, or plain, which here rises 

 abruptly to the height of five hundred feet. Hardly had we 

 halted before the neighboring bluffs were seen alive with 

 Diggers, who came out of their cavernous habitations in 

 swarms to look at us. Some descended to the valley and 

 came running to the camp, where they greeted us with cries 

 of " sJietcop ashendy//^^ (give us something to eat). They 

 were grotesque specimens of humanity, especially the old men, 

 and were nearly naked, what few clothes they had amongst 

 them being tattered apparel which they had begged or 

 stolen from passing caravans. 



