156 NOTES TAKEN. 
a most nauseous dose under any circumstances, but with 
‘the thermometer at one hundred and four degrees jn the 
shade, and long rides in the hot sun, creating most in- 
satiable thirst, our sufferings may be imagined but can- 
not be described, . 
Thad my first experience here in mounting guard, which 
became necessary in the disabled state of our escort, both 
Indians and white men. We all had to take turns, anda 
wretched night passed in restlessness and anxiety. We made 
this day forty miles. 
As may be supposed, we welcomed with joy the first 
streaks of day, and saddling up, we turned our back upon our 
wretched bivouac with alacrity, but apprehensive for the future. 
Ascending the steep banks of the ravine, we came upon a 
plain bounded upon the west by a most picturesque range of 
bluffs, then ascending and descending through hills, gullies, 
and ravines, we came, about eight, a. m., to the base of 4 
mountain, which forming one of the range of bluffs men- 
tioned, had attracted our attention for some time, glistening 
as it did in the sunlight. We ascended it and found its alti- 
tude, by barometer, seven hundred feet above the plain, and 
that it was composed of a solid mass of gypsum, the top level 
and covered with a dazzling white pavement of the mineral, 
as perfectly laid as though by the hand of man. 
From our elevated position a magnificent panorama was 
spread out before us. In our rear, the rough and inhospitable 
