MOJAVE VALLEY TO BIG CANON—-HUALPAIS GUIDES. 97 
A weary twenty miles of travel through a soft yielding soil have brought us to the north- 
eastern rim of the basin, where we have camped without water. For two or three days we 
have been passing through a good grazing country. In the valleys and mountain slopes the 
blue grama and pin grass, both highly nutritive, grow luxuriantly. The want of water renders 
the region valueless. 
Each successive valley crossed has been twelve or fifteen hundred feet higher than the pre- 
ceding, and we have attained now an elevation of nearly four thousand feet above the level of 
the sea. Thus far the scenery has been monotonous and rather uninteresting; the valleys and 
ranges possess the same general character, and all appear to head somewhere about the mouth 
of the Virgen. The appearance of the country just passed over, and what I saw from the top 
of Fortification rock, have led me to suppose that at the Great Bend of the Colorado there 
may be a focus from which quite a number of mountain chains radiate ; but the observations have 
been too limited to warrant a decided opinion, 
Ireteba was unsuccessful in finding his Hualpais friends. There are certainly a number of 
the tribe in the neighborhood. The smokes from their fires have been repeatedly seen on the 
mountain sides, and fresh tracks upon our route showed that several persons had preceded the 
train by only a few hours. 
Camp 65, Peacock’ s spring, March 3 1.—Leaving the Cerbat basin, the course lay towards a 
low point in the extension of Aquarius mountains—another chain almost parallel to the Black 
and Cerbat ranges. The gap much resembles the Railroad Pass. After entering it the trail 
took a sudden turn to the north, in which direction it continued. The sun was very hot, and 
the mules, not having had a plentiful drink of water for four days, showed marks of distress. 
_ Ten or twelve miles from camp, Mr. Peacock, who was riding in advance, discovered a large 
spring of clear, sweet water ina ravine near the road. There were no signs of the place 
having been used as a camp, and even Ireteba did not appear to have known previously of its 
existence. A Mexican subsequently found a running stream a mile or two further on, where 
the Indians passing this way had been in the habit of stopping. 
Treteba, at my request, again went in search of some Hualpais tractable enough to enlist for 
a few days in our service. After an absence of several hours he came back and reported that 
he had discovered two who were willing to go. In a little while, from the top of a neighboring 
hill, a discordant screaming was heard, proceeding from two Indians who were suspiciously 
surveying camp. It was some time before our Mojaves could persuade them to approach, and 
when they did they looked like men who had screwed up their courage to face a mortal peril. 
They were squalid, wretched-looking creatures, with splay feet, large joints, and diminutive 
figures, but had bright eyes and cunning faces, and resembled a little the Chemehuevis. 
Taking them into the tent occupied by Lieutenant Tipton and myself, with many misgivings as 
to how many varieties of animal life were being introduced there, I brought out some pipes 
and tobacco and told Ireteba to proceed with the negotiations. These were not soon arranged. 
The sentiousness belonging to Mr. Cooper’s and other story-book Indians is- not a gift of the 
tribes that one encounters in travelling. Our old guides and the two new candidates talked 
all at once, and with amazing volubility; they seemed to be recounting their personal histories 
from birth to the present date. The conclusion arrived at was that they knew nothing about 
the country—neither a good road nor the localities of grass and water; that they were out 
hunting and had lost their way, and had no idea of the direction even of their own villages. 
This very probable statement I correctly supposed to be a hint that they were not to be 
approached empty-handed ; for when Ireteba had been authorized to make a distinct offer of 
beads and blankets, one of them recollected where he was, and also that there were watering 
Places ahead to which he could guide us. It was thought advisable to again lie over for a day; 
and they went away, agreeing to be in camp on the day but one following. : 
A third Hualpais turned up this morning; he had features like a toad’s, and the most 
13 I 
