i 



I 



STEIKIXa THE AEKANSAS. 



73 



combination of sounds tliat ever broke the slumbers of 



worn-out traveller. 



came to. as I 



fil'St 



Four miles of tra\ 

 the previous evening. 



mornincr solved the Question of 



our 



Thursday, 

 J uly 1 1 . 



we had indeed seen ^^ the promised land 



the 



the Arkansas, the wooded 



banks, the islands of cotton- wood trees, and the shinin 



Suikiug the Arkansas. 



river. Thi'ee hours 



after daylight our horses were wading 

 through a sea of long rich grass^ and snorting with excitement 

 as they smelt the water. As for the mules, they were quite 

 immanageable. With difficulty the teamsters prevented them 

 from rushing straight into the river with the wagons behind 

 them; and when once unyoked, each team, regardless of 



