TO DELAWARE CREEK. 
105 
had been visible to the westward, seventy or eighty 
miles distant, since crossing the Pecos, to-day were 
lost to our view. 
Passed the carcasses of four cattle by the road 
side ; and in another place, where there was a slight 
depression in the plain, and where water had at some 
time accumulated after rains, there lay the carcasses 
of five more, which had doubtless mired in endea- 
voring to satiate their thirst. Portions of wagons, 
boxes, and barrels were also noticed along the road. 
November Mh. Still journeying along the river. 
Barren plains continue, with fewer mezquit than 
before. Dried grass and weeds prevail. Many car- 
casses and skeletons of oxen, and several skeletons of 
mules, marked our route to-day, as well as the remains 
of broken wagons. As the prairie did not furnish us 
fuel to make our fires, we gathered up the fragments 
of the wagons and carried them with us for the pur- 
pose. Noticed along the road recent tracks of Indians, 
horses, and mules ; or, in the language of the country, 
“ Indian sign.” The tracks of the animals showed 
that they were unshod, which would not have been 
the case if it had been an American party. Next we 
observed prints of moccasins, which are easily distin- 
guished from the American shoe, or from the sandal or 
moccasin of the Mexicans. Then the freshness of the 
foot-prints and of the dung, showed that the party 
could not have preceded us more than a few hours. In 
this belief we were strengthened by seeing large fires 
some fifteen or twenty miles off on the prairie, early in 
the evening. 
f^Much sagacity is shown by experienced hunters 
