bright mountains;
something life-like, that prevented us from feeling the extreme and real
desolation by which we were surrounded. At times we could not help
fancying that we were in a thickly-populated country--a country of vast
wealth and civilisation, as appeared from its architectural grandeur.
Yet in reality we were journeying through the wildest of earth's
dominions, where no human foot ever trod excepting such as wear the
moccasin; the region of the "wolf" Apache and the wretched Yamparico.

We travelled up the banks of the river, and here and there, at our
halting-places, searching for the shining metal. It could be found only
in small quantities, and the hunters began to talk loudly of the Prieto.
There, according to them, the yellow gold lay in lumps.

On the fourth day after leaving the Gila, we came to a place where the
San Carlos canoned through a high sierra. Here we halted for the night.
When morning came, we found we could follow the river no farther
without climbing over the mountain; and Seguin announced his intention
of leaving it and striking eastward. The hunters responded to this
declaration with a joyous hurrah. The golden vision was again before
them.

We remained at the San Carlos until after the noon heat, recruiting our
horses by the stream; then mounting, we rode forward into the plain. It
was our intention to travel all night, or until we reached water, as we
knew that without this, halting would be useless.

We had not ridden far until we saw that a fearful Jornada was before
us--one of those dreaded stretches without grass, wood, or water. Ahead
of us we could see a low range of mountains, trending from north to
south, and beyond these, another range still higher than the first. On
the farther range there were snowy summits. We saw that they were
distinct chains, and that the more distant was of great elevation. This
we knew from the appearance upon its peaks of the eternal snow.

We knew, moreover, that at the foot of the snowy range we should find
water, perhaps the river we were in search of; but the distance was
immense. If we did not find it at the nearer sierra, we should have an
adventure: the danger of perishing from thirst. Such was the prospect.

We rode on over the arid soil; over plains of lava and cut-rock that
wounded the hoofs of our horses, laming many. There was no vegetation
around us except the sickly green of the artemisia, or the fetid foliage
of th