4o6 Reminiscences of 



furnished to Indians, but little attention is given in 

 New Mexico to this, and the Navajos, though tem- 

 perate in the main, have means of obtaining liquor 

 when particularly desired, as indicated by several 

 of their number whom we saw under its influence. 

 Most Indians are gamblers, and the Navajos are 

 particularly addicted to it, and skilful, and adepts 

 at cheating. We saw the success of one of these 

 warriors, at a Mexican village near Santa F^, when 

 on our return, where he obtained all the cash of 

 a small sheep-owner and his flock also, of some- 

 thing over a hundred head, which he was driving 

 home to the reserv'ation. 



We had some adventures in fording some of the 

 small streams on our way. At one of these fords 

 our carrj^all as well as our wagon stuck in the mud 

 so effectually that we had to wait some hours for a 

 pair of oxen to haul us out. We had an amusing 

 incident with Meyers, the fourth day out, illustrat- 

 ing one of the peculiar features of his disposition 

 and make-up. It had rained in the night, somewhat 

 to our inconvenience, and commenced again in the 

 morning as we were about to start on. As our cuisine 

 department was not equipped with a cook we had 

 first depended upon Hussey, the driver of our wagon 

 team, who had recommended himself to us favor- 

 ably in connection with his expressed opinion that 

 he was high up in the line, and intended to open a 

 restaurant in Santa F6 upon his return. We found 

 his work so wretched in this particular that I took 

 this department in hand myself, and delegated him 

 to the dish-washing line, but his results in this were 

 so unsatisfactory that my wife and cousin were com- 



