d live, even were we certain of being able to capture it. It was
evident, then, to us all, that we should have to get away from that
place as speedily as possible.

"The next point to be determined was, whether the Desert extended away
to the south, as we already knew that it did to the north. To ascertain
this, I resolved to go around the mountain, leaving the rest at the camp
until my return.

"Our horse was by this time rested, and well fed; and, having saddled
him and shouldered my rifle, I mounted and rode off. I kept around the
mountain-foot, going by the eastern side. I crossed several rivulets
resembling the one on which we had encamped; and noticed that all these
turned off toward the eastward, making their way to a main stream. In
this direction, too, I saw a few stunted trees, with here and there an
appearance of greenness on the surface of the plain. On the way I saw
an antelope, and another animal resembling a deer, but differing from
all the deer I had ever seen, in having a long tail like a cow. I knew
not at the time what sort of an animal it was, as I had never met with
any description of it in books of natural history.

"After riding about five miles, I got fairly round to the east side of
the mountain, and could view the country away to the south. As far as
my sight could reach, I saw nothing but an open plain--if possible more
sterile in its character than that which stretched northward. The only
direction in which there were any signs of fertility was to the east,
and that was but in patches of scanty vegetation.

"It was a cheerless prospect. We should now certainly have a desert to
cross before we could get to any inhabited country. To strike
eastwardly again, for the American frontier--circumstanced as we were
without provisions and with worn-out cattle--would be madness; as the
distance was at least eight hundred miles. Besides, I knew there were
many hostile tribes of Indians living on that route, so that, even
should the country prove fertile, we could never hope to get through it.
To go northward or southward would be equally impossible, as there was
no civilised settlement for a thousand miles in either direction. Our
only hope, then, would be, to attempt crossing the Desert westwardly to
the Mexican settlements on the Del Norte,--a distance of nearly two
hundred miles! To do this, we should need first to rest our ill-matched
team for several days. We should also require pr