PALM SPRINGS TO SEVEN PALMS 85 



tlons are thrown together: but on the whole the con- 

 nection had been pleasant and I think profitable on 

 both sides. In many a canon "we twa had pu'd the 

 gowans fine," and in friendly tandem we had "wan- 

 dered monie a weary fit" of unprofitable sand and 

 cactus ; and for my part I had no thought but that 

 our fortunes would keep one trail for many a mile 

 yet untrod. I meant, moreover, to get Mesquit a 

 comrade when we reached the settlements down the 

 valley, for though her load for the long journey was 

 no more than her accustomed one, I wished to make 

 the best arrangements so as to ensure reasonably 

 fast travel. Also, I hoped thus to have the means 

 of carrying water in excess of the capacity of my 

 two canteens, one of gallon, the other of half-gallon 

 size. 



For my mount I had bought from an Indian ac- 

 quaintance a small, tough horse. Born and bred on 

 the desert, he promised (or Francisco promised for 

 him) to be excellent for my purpose. His Indian 

 name of Po'say (meaning "little") did not quite 

 please me, with its inapt suggestion of flowery 

 meads, and I rechristened him Kaweah, partly in 

 allusion to the name of the tribe to which his old 

 master, and therefore he, belonged, namely, the 

 Cahuilla (of which Kaweah is a phonetic variant), 

 but more out of compliment to the memory of the 

 loyal companion to whose virtues Clarence King 

 does honor in a book which I am never tired of 

 praising, "Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada." 

 Let me say at once that in many a hard day's march, 

 and sometimes, under necessity, night's to follow at 



