70 NARKATIVE OF A JOURNF.Y 



after a hard and most toilsome march for both man and beast. 

 We found no water on the route, and not a single blade of grass 

 for our horses. Many of the poor animals stopped before night, 

 and resolutely refused to proceed ; and others with the remarkable 

 sagacity, peculiar to them, left the track in defiance of those who 

 drove and guided them, sought and found water, and spent the 

 night in its vicinity. The band of missionaries, with their horses 

 and horned cattle, halted by the way, and only about half the 

 men of the party accompanied us to our encampment on Sandy. 

 We were thus scattered along the route for several miles ; and 

 if a predatory band of Indians had then found us, we should have 

 fallen an easy prey. 



The next morning by about 10 o'clock all our men and horses 

 had joined us, and, in spite of the fatigues of the previous day, 

 we were all tolerably refreshed, and in good spirits. Towards 

 noon we got under way, and proceeded seven or eight miles 

 down the river to a spot where we found a little poor pasture for 

 our horses. Here we remained until the next morning, to recruit. 

 I found here a beautiful new species of mocking bird,* which I 

 shot and prepared. Birds are, however, generally scarce, and 

 there is here very little of interest in any department of natural 

 history. We are also beginning to suffer somewhat for food : 

 buffalo are rarely seen, the antelopes are unusually shy, and the 

 life of our little favorite, " Zip," has been several times menaced. 

 I believe, however, that his keeper, from sheer fondness, would 

 witness much greater suffering in the camp, ere he would con- 

 sent to the sacrifice of his playful little friend. 



IGth. — We observed a hoar frost and some thin ice, this 

 morning at sunrise ; but at mid-day, the thermometer stood at 

 82°. We halted at noon, after making about fifteen miles, and 

 dined. Saw large herds of buffalo on the plains of Sandy river, 



♦ This is the mountain mocking binl, {Orpheus montanus,) described in the 

 Appendix. 



