FORT YUMA. 145 
I was desirous to take the body of Colonel Craig 
to Fort Yuma for burial with military honors; but Dr. 
Webb pronounced this impracticable, owing to its rapid 
decomposition, as it would require two, if not three, 
days to reach that place. A deep grave was, therefore, 
dug in the desert near our camp, and a few rods from 
the margin of the great basin. At sunset, when the 
mules had received their packs, the wagons had been 
loaded, and the party were ready to move, a proces- 
sion was formed, and the mortal remains of our excel- 
lent and much beloved friend, borne upon a cot by 
four soldiers, were consigned to his lonely grave. I 
read on the occasion the burial service of the Church 
of England. ‘There was neither mound, rock, nor tree 
to mark the spot; a dreary solitude reigned around us, 
uninterrupted by asingle object, save the animals and 
men belonging to the party. Even the wind had died 
away ; and in the silence that accompanied our sad and 
solitary rites, Wolfe’s beautiful lines on the burial of 
Sir John Moore involuntarily suggested themselves to 
every mind. : 
In order that the spot might be identified, a 
wooden cross was erected at the head of the grave, on 
which was inscribed: 
“OTeIMBIOT, (COI, Bh: KS ORCL” 0h Sh UN, 
Died June 6, 1852.” 
dered to Colonel Magruder. After much delay, arising out of the ques- 
tion whether they should be tried by a military court martial or by the 
civic courts, they were finally tried, condemned, and hanged at San 
Diego, in presence of a vast multitude, among which were many 
Indians. The murderers were both Englishmen, and are said to have 
been deserters from the British army. 
VOL. 11.—10 
