TO DELAWARE CREEK. 
103 
was about a half allowance for ten days. The coffee 
and sugar was all gone. 
November Id. Our route kept on in a westerly 
course, near the river, which we occasionally distin- 
guished on our right by the rushes and other plants 
peculiar to salt marshes, which grew upon its banks. 
The same barrenness continues, with scarcely a living 
object. A few blackbirds and sparrows are all that 
have been seen. Passed five more dried carcasses of 
oxen lying by the road. Fell in with a cow and 
yearling calf, and after a pretty good chase succeeded 
in lassoing the cow. She would not, however, consent 
to be driven with the train, when she was tied behind 
a wagon; but so furious did she become at being 
deprived of her liberty, that it was found necessary to 
shoot her. The calf was then followed a mile or more, 
and shared the same fate. Both proved very fat, and 
a most welcome addition to our supply of food in its 
diminished state. Passed several depressions near the 
river, which appeared to have been filled with water. 
A white efflorescence on their surface showed the extent 
of the saline matter with which the soil was impreg- 
nated. Crossed an arroyo or dry bed of a stream, 
covered with the salty incrustations before alluded to, 
which we took to be the “ Toyah Creek ” of the maps. 
At four o’clock, encamped on the margin of the Pecos, 
about two miles from the creek. The shrubbery 
to-day exhibits a larger growth than any we have 
seen since we crossed the river. 
November 3cZ, Sunday. I was desirous to rest 
to-day ; and had we been any where except on the 
banks of the Pecos, I certainly would have done so. 
