p in any climate.

During the first few weeks of the trip we milked some of the cows, and
also made butter, the churning operation being effected mainly by the
motion of the wagons, in the regular course. That this did not last
long was due to reduction of milk supply. After a time there was not
sufficient even for use in the coffee, or for making gravy, that
convenient substitute for butter.

Such delicacies as may now be found in first-class canned meats,
vegetables and milk would have filled an often-felt want. The
occasional supply that we had en route of fresh meat and fish were
obtained largely by chance; we having no knowledge of localities where
hunting and fishing were likely to be successful, and it being deemed
unsafe for members of the party to wander far or remain long away
from the train. It seems regrettable that the invention of
hermetically-sealed and easily portable foods, and the inducement to
cross the plains to California, did not occur in reversed sequence.

Neither had the kodak arrived. Had it been with us then, this
narrative might be illustrated with snap-shots of camp scenes,
characteristic roadside views, and incidents of travel generally,
which would do more for realism than can any word-picture. We often
see specimens of artists' work purporting to represent a "'49er"
emigrant train on the overland journey--some of them very clever; but
seldom are they at all realistic to the man who was there.

The man with a camera could have perpetuated, for example, the
striking scene presented to us one day of a party, consisting of two
men and their wives, with two or three children, sitting on a rocky
hillside, woefully scanning their team of done-out oxen and one wagon
with a broken axle; no means at hand for recuperation and repair. In
the scorching sun of a July day they waited, utterly helpless,
hopeless, forlorn, confused; and a thousand miles from "anywhere."
Such a grouping would not have made a cheerful picture, but would have
assisted immensely in recording a historical fact.

But no emigrant ever found another in distress and "passed by on the
other side."

We were early risers, and the camp was each morning a scene of life
with the rising of the sun. By sunset all were sufficiently fatigued
to wish for making camp again. Therefore, from the morning start till
the evening stop was usually about twelve hours, with variations from
time to time, according to necessity or exceptional con