222 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. 
blankets to match the coat, and sealskin boots reaching toff 
hips ; then a large bag, labelled “ muck-a-muck,” whic 
soon informed us was food for the journey, should we 
anything between times ; then came a gallon keg of whislh} 
then a second ditto, then a third, a fourth, and, lastl 
demijohn of the same. Bang went the door! “ All aboa! 
Whoop !” shouted the driver, as he cracked the whip 
the leaders ; and thus, amidst a chorus of cheers from 
new acquaintances, and a long string of messages to T 
Dick, and Harry from the stentorian voice of Leland, as 
bid them good-bye, we bumped and rattled through Virgi 
City. The whiskey was all finished before we reached 
Lake ; and, although it was at times a nuisance, and notwi 
standing the fact that the owner of it drank with every | 
along the road, whether they wished or not, it was, neve! 
theless, a source of great amusement, and probably helf 
the horses, through the driver, out of many a “ tight” placé 
Travelling day and night by stage across 700 miles! 
desert is wearisome at all times, but it is especially try)? 
when the frost first breaks up, and the soft, friable soil ¥* 
converted into mud which is slightly frozen over at nigh}! 
and lets the wheels sink through it to the axletrees. Th 
happened to be our case. Had we been one week earlier, W] 
could have gone upon a smooth road from Virginia Cif 
to Salt Lake in four days. As it was, our average rate 
All the “alkali flats ” were flooded and covered with ice 
thin to bear, but quite thick enough to damage the legs 
the horses ; the ruts were terrible, and both through the 
and night we were jolted, first on one side, then on the 0 
_and thrown violently forward into the arms of our vis-d-U}! 
Every now and then the driver would call out, “ Left! 
