SANTA CRUZ. 313 
in the Mexican service was shot by a rifle ball in his 
arm, from which wound he was then suffering severe- 
ly. We also learned that the three men who joined 
us at Santa Isabel, California, and who left us on the 
desert at the time Colonel Craig was killed, had 
reached here about the time of the affray with the 
Indians. They took part in it, and one of them re- 
ceived a wound. 
After a couple of hours spent in the town, I rode 
forward to our camp, where the tents and wagons had 
been arranged in a square, for the better protection of 
the men and animals in case of an attack from the 
Indians, who, we were told, were constantly prowling 
about the neighborhood, and watching an opportunity 
to surprise any party whom they thought unprepared, 
or to run off any animals not sufficiently guarded. 
