onward,
when the snows above melted by the heat of the approaching summer. At
length, climbing another rock, we saw not fifty yards from us the sad
spectacle of which we were in search, the fragments of the wagon and the
dead horses. We hurried on and soon reached the spot. Already over the
horses were hovering eight or ten huge vultures, flapping their wings as
they alighted, while with unearthly cries they tore away the flesh with
their sharp talons and hooked beaks. They seemed inclined to dispute
their prey with us; but on Obed and I firing we killed two of them, and
the rest flew off; but we could see them hovering in the distance, ready
to pounce down again as soon as we had retired.

We instantly set to work with our crowbars and poles to turn over the
broken wagon. The sight which met our eyes was sad indeed. There lay
the two young men, fearfully crushed and mangled, directly under the
wagon. They must have clung to it as it descended, or have been
entangled among the goods in it. They must instantly have been killed.
We had wished to carry the bodies back to the camp, but in consequence
of the impracticable character of the road we had come over this was
impossible. We hunted about till at last we discovered a sort of basin
among the rocks, into which the earth from above had washed. Here we
dug two graves as deep as time would allow, and with scant ceremony,
though not without a tear, we placed in them the two brothers. We knew
that prayers for them were of no avail; they had gone to their account;
but we did pray that we might not thus be hurriedly snatched away
without a warning. There were plenty of slabs of stone on the side of
the mountain chipped off by winter frosts and summer heats and rains,
and so we placed one at the head of each grave, and then we left them to
sleep on undisturbed. Probably many ages may roll by before that spot
is again visited by human footsteps. So engaged had we been in our
painful employment that we did not perceive how rapidly daylight was
decreasing, and before we had proceeded half-a-mile on our return
journey we came to the disagreeable conclusion that we should be
benighted before we could possibly reach the camp. Still we of course
pushed on as long as we could see our way. As we had had no food since
the morning, we were desperately hungry; but as Obed observed, "I guess
we've plenty of water, mates, and maybe we shall kill a rattlesnake, and
that won't