Chap. XIII. LIFE OAK CEEEK. 417 
scarcely betray the course of the stream . The water is 
clayey, brackish, and unwholesome. 
We crossed the river at a spot where, by a great decline, 
it becomes shallow. The passage is rather dangerous, 
requiring care and presence of mind. 
The mail from El Paso passed us here. Two carriages, 
each with four mules ; coachmen, guard and passengers all 
fully armed. One of the passengers was a little girl of 
three or four years old, who — entrusted to the coachman, 
and with no other companion — was thus sent the 700 miles 
from El Paso to San Antonio. The other passengers, 
however, joined him in taking care of her; and it was 
touching to see how these rough, bearded men, with their 
pistols and daggers, supplied the place of a mother's care 
to the tender little creature. It was a true picture of wild 
American life, where the highest qualities in human nature 
are often found, united with the roughest externals. 
To the east of the valley, the road ascends again by a 
lateral branch to the plateau. The stream of this side 
valley is called the Life Oak Creek ; and the valley gave 
us a pleasant halting place. In a short time we caught 
sufficient fish to afford an ample meal for the whole 
caravan. 
An enchanting prairie scene surrounded us above. The 
level plain was covered with fresh young grass, and bushes 
of cypress-like junipers marked the beginning of the de- 
clivity towards the Pecos valley. Farther to the east the 
ground became more undulating, while scattered shrubs 
gave it the appearance of a park. We arrived at the 
Howard Springs, at the base of some limestone hills. On 
the road we saw several stags, a bear in the distance, and the 
carcase of a buffalo. A few days previously we had found 
the head of one of these animals, with the horns attached. 
2 E 
