we could obtain
food, and rest, and shelter, to prepare ourselves for our tramp to the
diggings. We remained only one day, for the charges were so high at the
inn that we should have been ruined had we stayed longer. Of the forty
people who had come up in the schooner, very few accompanied us. We
found a party of about thirty starting, with five or six mules carrying
provisions. We joined ourselves to them. Each of us had a rifle slung
to his back, in addition to a week's provisions and our mining utensils,
while our pistols and knives were stuck in our belts. We went on for
two days pretty easily. I shall never forget the appearance of some
people we met, who had come overland from the western states of
America,--their haggard eyes, long matted hair, shrunk forms, and
tattered clothes, which hung on them like loose rags fluttering in the
wind. They were the remnants of a large party, the greater number of
whom with their horses and cattle had died on the way, from the
hardships they had to encounter. The latter part of the road, they
said, was strewed with the whitening bones of men and animals,
broken-down waggons, and abandoned furniture. The next day's journey
gave us a specimen of what those poor fellows had endured. The sun came
out with intense fury, and struck scorching down on our heads. Not a
drop of water could be got. There was a pool, we were told, some way
on. We reached the spot: it was dry. Our thirst grew intolerable.
Those who had been accustomed to take spirits suffered more than the
rest. We lay down that night at a place where there was no wood. We
had no fire, therefore, to cook our provisions. We could not eat the
meat we had brought with us raw. All night long the wolves howled
horribly in our ears. At daybreak we arose and pushed on. There was a
water-hole, we were told, a few miles ahead. We reached the spot: it
was dry. Many who had hitherto held out gave way to despair. The
muleteers had skins with water, but they guarded them, revolver in hand,
to moisten their own and their mules' lips. Their lives depended on
those of their animals. A few of us had flasks, but we could only
venture to take a drop of the precious fluid at a time. One man had a
bottle of brandy. He boasted at first of his cleverness in having
secured it. Now, he went about offering the whole of it for a drop of
water. Several of the brandy drinkers sank down. They had agreed to
keep together. T