114 SAN FRANCISCO FOREST TO MOQUIS—SAN FRANCISCO MOUNTAIN. 
have converted it into a well-watered garden, and covered it with green meadows and spring 
flowers. The grass, even when dried by the summer’s sun, will remain nutritious. The groves 
of trees will at all times give the region a habitable appearance, and, though it is not known 
how great the supply of water would be during the summer, the country can never present the 
arid wastes that are spread along the belts of territory both north and south. One only source 
of trouble is that which we anticipated encountering. The vitreous rock rasps off the hoofs of 
the unshod mules like a file, and they will be disabled if we have long to travel over the lava 
region. 
SESE 1 
Fig. 37.—Bill Williams’s Mountain. 
. Camp 84, April 30.—The route continued through an open park, dotted with flowery lawns 
and pretty copses, and then reached the edge of the great forest that surrounds the San Francisco 
mountain, and entered its'sombre precincts. It was delightful to escape from the heat of the 
sun, and travel through the cool underwood. Across the dark shady glades a glimpse would 
sometimes be caught of a bright tinted meadow glowing in the sunlight. Antelope and deer 
were constantly seen bounding by, stopping for a moment to gaze at us, and then darting off 
into the obscure recesses of the wood. 
Half-way to the mountain we passed an open prairie—a natural clearing in this vast expanse 
of pines—and camped upon the eastern edge. Water was found ina ravine close by. The 
amount of snow melted from the mountain sides during the past fortnight has been immense, 
and every water-course is filled with a cold, clear rill. During the march to-day the effects of 
the thaw have been found somewhat inconvenient. Some of the ground passed over has been 
comparatively low, and so soft between the rocks that the mules were in danger of miring at 
every step. Nothing frightens a mule or makes him more obstinate than this, and it was with 
great difficulty that we compelled the unwilling animals to proceed. As we approached the 
