TO HORSE-HEAD CROSSING. 
89 
not in the hurry of the moment get any thing else, 
took their coats and hats to battle with the raging 
element. Some ran to the wagons to remove them ; 
but before they could be got out of the way, the 
flames were about the heels of the men and the wagon 
wheels. The slightly-marked road where the grass 
was destroyed, offered a temporary check, and was of 
great help to us in bringing the fire under. Had 
it had one minute more the start, a hundred men 
could not have controlled it ; besides, had it extended 
fifty feet further — which it would have done in half 
a minute — ^it would have reached our animals, and 
caused a general stampede among them, resulting, 
doubtless, in the loss of many. We should then have 
been in a sad plight, thirty miles from water, and two 
hundred and fifty from the nearest settlement. 
Such accidents have occurred, which have resulted 
in the destruction of trains. During the late war with 
Mexico, several wagons were burned by the grass 
taking fire. 
The place marked “Flat-rock Ponds,” where we 
were told water was sometimes found, was quite dry, 
nor were there any indications that there had been 
any there for months. ^ 
October We had kept in motion the whole 
of the preceding night. A cold wind blew most of 
the time, making it very uncomfortable. It is not a 
desirable piece of exercise at any time to ride on 
horseback all night ; but when a person has been in 
the saddle for thirteen hours the previous day, and 
continues the journey without rest, it becomes deci- 
dedly disagreeable ; and when morning dawned upon 
