266 
CAVE AND CLIFF DWELLERS. 
gulches for the mules, as these animals 
often wander miles away at night, and in 
the morning all the available people in 
camp are turned out to look for them. 
This search sometimes wears well into 
the day before these frisky beasts are 
brought in ; then some stray human 
member of the party has to be found, and 
when all this is accomplished it is nearly 
time to turn out the mules for another 
feed. On this particular morning fortune 
favored us, however, and soon our 
dejected-looking beasts were tied in line 
with the lariats, while we sat on the 
ground a short distance from them, each 
with a tin plate in our laps and a tin cup¬ 
ful of coffee in our hands. The night 
before an Indian had arrived at our 
camp, sent out from Urique by our 
Mexican friend, with roasted chickens and 
