RETURN TO MORMON BAR. 
81 
we went to a ravine, filled our flasks with, spring-water and com¬ 
menced ascending the mountain. On arriving near the summit 
we came upon a herd of deer, and wounded one, but did not 
succeed in capturing it. We soon found ourselves again in 
view of the Snowy Mountains and resolved to encamp for the 
night. After partaking of a sumptuous meal, (pork and hard 
bread) we again reclined on the couch of nature, her sweetest 
incense borne by the gentle breezes to our sleeping senses. 
(The dust was blowing furiously.) 
We took an early start on our return to Mormon Bar, and 
arrived in the evening much fatigued. We resolved to make 
an effort here at mining, and back it up with any amount of 
energy. We purchased a machine and made all the prelimi¬ 
nary arrangements in the evening, preparatory to a start at an 
early hour. We had no tent, consequently resolved to rent a 
suit of apartments from Nature, and looking about we found a 
large rock on the brink of a precipice, one hundred feet above 
the river. The place was secluded and pleasant. In front of 
the rock, on the mountain side, was a kitchen sufficiently large 
for our family, including the sleeping apartment. The space 
was shaded by a small oak tree; and, growing against the rock, 
were two other trees. Behind the rock was a space about 
twelve feet square, well shaded and was to serve as our dress¬ 
ing-room. A person to jump out of the back window would 
land in the river. 
Tracy had volunteered to act as cook, and in order to have 
things in harmony, I called him wife, and he was perhaps as well 
calculated to get along under the circumstances as any one I 
could have got. As to kitchen furniture, he cared more for the 
useful than ornamental, and was calculated to manage the 
domestic affairs with the strictest economy. We had a small 
camp-kettle, a coffee-pot, and two tin plates; I had a knife and 
fork and tin cup. Tracy had a pocket-knife, and a water-tight 
Indian basket, which served him as a coffee-cup. I slung my 
hammock to the trees that grew against the rock; he spread his 
blanket on the ground, a few feet distant, and we were keeping 
house. 
We arose in the morning full of energy, and didn’t think 
there were any two individuals in that “section” destined to 
6 
