MOJAVE VALLEY TO MOUTH OF BLACK CANON—SCARCITY OF SUPPLIES. 83 
dicular walls five hundred or a thousand feet high, the individuals on board would be likely to 
share the fate of the steamer. The carpenter has been working at the skiff, to put it ina more 
serviceable condition, and two or three oars have been mended; to-morrow the captain, the 
mate, and myself, are going to make an attempt to ascend the cafion. 
The arrival of the pack-train is looked forward to with much eagerness. Rockets were sent 
up this evening from the summit of the cliff above camp, and the southern horizon was watched 
for the appearance of similar signals in that direction, but without result. For two or three 
weeks we have been subsisting upon the corn and beans obtained from the Indians; the corn 
is ground in coffee-mills, and makes a tolerable bread, upon which and boiled beans, washed 
down with water from the river, we breakfast, dine, and sup. This diet agrees wonderfully 
te 
Fig. 25 —Mouth of Black Cafion. 
with the Mojaves; but either our stomachs are not sufficiently trained to it, or it is not whole- 
Some fare for whites, for some of the men suffer a good deal. The labor for the past two or 
three weeks has been excessive, involving the necessity of standing, sometimes for hours, waist- 
deep in the chilling water; and strong food has been particularly craved. The want of coffee 
is generally found, on such occasions, to be the severest privaticn, even more so than that of 
meat. But the greatest trouble our party has had to put up with has been the absence of salt. 
he bag containing the whole supply was lost or stolen a fortnight ago. No one can imagine, 
Who has not tried the experiment, how tasteless and disagreeable food may become when 
Prepared without this common but indispensable ingredient. A well-salted dog or mule soup 
would be received with delight in exchange for the insipid dishes of beans and corn which we 
are compelled daily to swallow. : | 3 
ec edecteutek venteltlay to go back to the Mojave valley and ascertain the whereabouts 
of the pack-train. He thought he would be able to learn the news and return by the time 
