sday, July 26th_.--This day we struck our camp before sunrise,
and had the horses securely packed and all in motion in the early cool
of the morning. The march was a fatiguing one; the country appearing to
be a succession of woody bottoms, or valleys and steep rocky ridges,
which tried the metal of our loaded horses severely. From the summit of
one of the hills more elevated than the rest we obtained a distant view
of the valley of the Sacramento. Our general course was north
north-west. The trapper, who proved an able guide, varied the direction
from time to time so as to lead us through the easiest paths, taking
care to steer clear of the deep canones that split up the hills in
every direction. We dined at noon as usual, and that very well, on some
hare soup made from a couple of hares which we had shot during the
morning, and some dried beef. The signs of deer were very frequent.
After mounting and descending a very precipitous and rocky ridge, we
encamped near some waterfalls in a wide open valley. The night was
somewhat cold, and we enjoyed a blazing fire of pine sticks, which we
cut from the dried trees in the vicinity.

_Friday, July 28th_.--Yesterday morning dawned clear and rather
coolish. In the forenoon we crossed the north fork of the Americanos,
which was here but a trifling stream. The general character of the
country was becoming more and more mountainous and difficult to
traverse, and we found the labour of the journey sufficiently severe. A
great number of water-courses crossed our path, but the channels were
quite dry, the stones and shingle white and bleaching in the sun. An
unfortunate accident occurred during the afternoon's march to one of
the pack-horses, which stumbled over a heap of rough stones in
clambering up from the bed of a torrent, and broke its leg. We had to
shoot the poor animal to put it out of pain. Its burden was equally
distributed between its more fortunate fellows. We encamped amongst
rocks, and had a poor supper of flour cakes and bacon scraps. During
the night Don Luis was attacked with aguish symptoms. I prescribed
bark, which appeared to relieve him.

To-day our horses were quickly saddled and packed, and we started off
in the faint grey of the morning. It was chilly, but the sky was
beautifully clear. When the sun had fairly risen, however, we had no
more cold to complain of. The way was exceedingly difficult. We toiled
along precipitous ravines and gullies, and climbed up