s might be watered, and each party was notified to have
their animals in waiting; the important business of watering then
commenced, upon the success of which depended the possibility of their
advancing with us a foot further. Two buckets for each animal were
allowed. At 10, A.M., when my turn came, Captain Moore had succeeded,
by great exertions, in opening another well, and the one already opened
began to flow more freely, in consequence of which, we could afford to
give each animal as much as it could drink. The poor brutes, none of
which had tasted water in forty-eight hours, and some not for the last
sixty, clustered round the well and scrambled for precedence. At 12
o'clock I had watered all my animals, thirty-seven in number, and
turned over the well to Captain Moore. The animals still had an aching
void to fill, and all night was heard the munching of sticks, and their
piteous cries for more congenial food.

"_November 27 and 28_.--To-day we started a few minutes after sunrise.
Our course was a winding one, to avoid the sand-drifts. The Mexicans
had informed us that the waters of the salt lake, some thirty or forty
miles distant, were too salt to use, but other information led us to
think the intelligence was wrong. We accordingly tried to reach it;
about 3, P.M., we disengaged ourselves from the sand, and went due
(magnetic) west, over an immense level of clay detritus, hard and
smooth as a bowling-green. The desert was almost destitute of
vegetation; now and then an Ephedra, Oenothera, or bunches of Aristida
were seen, and occasionally the level was covered with a growth of
Obione canescens, and a low bush with small oval plaited leaves,
unknown. The heavy sand had proved too much for many horses and some
mules, and all the efforts of their drivers could bring them no further
than the middle of this desert. About 8 o'clock, as we approached the
lake, the stench of dead animals confirmed the reports of the Mexicans,
and put to flight all hopes of being able to use the water.

"The basin of the lake, as well as I could judge at night, is about
three-quarters of a mile long and half a mile wide. The water had
receded to a pool, diminished to one half its size, and the approach to
it, was through a thick soapy quagmire. It was wholly unfit for man or
brute, and we studiously kept the latter from it, thinking that the use
of it would but aggravate their thirst. One or two of the men came in
late, and, rushing to t