4 SAN DIEGO TO 
‘‘We had no escort; and therefore, after walking 
all day, we were obliged to take our turns at standing 
guard at night. Our provisions became so diminished 
in quantity as to compel me to put the whole party on 
short allowance. We lived principally on meat, mush, 
and mutton, without any vegetables. But one sheep 
(long, lank, raw-boned animals) was allowed to 
twelve men for four days, and even then our last meat 
was consumed a week before our arrival; and we were 
forced to deprive ourselves of a portion of our mush 
to furnish food to our animals, owing to the entire 
absence, for several days on our route; of all grass, 
shrubs, and trees. 
‘‘Much is said by travellers respecting the desert 
of Sahara; but, in barrenness of verdure, destitution of 
water, tremendous storms of sand, etec., etc., it is 
doubtful if any tract of land can surpass the jornada 
which we crossed. Indeed much of this country, that 
by those residing at a distance is imagined to be a 
perfect paradise, is a sterile waste, utterly worthless 
for any purpose than to constitute a barrier or natural 
line of demarcation between two neighboring nations. 
‘‘ Notwithstanding our many perils, privations, and 
suffering, mostly attributable, when traced to the true 
source, to our imperfect outfit at the Copper Mines, 
from the negligence, wilfulness, or some other unjusti- 
fiable cause on the part of those whose duty it was to 
attend to the business; notwithstanding the many 
additional obstacles thrown in the way; notwithstand- 
ing the continued succession of disappointments which 
we encountered in numerous shapes, and of varied 
hue, where the doing or neglecting to do, depended 
