Accordingly, thanking him as well as they could by signs, the three
moved away toward the east.

CHAPTER XII.

THE SALINAS VALLEY.

Our friends journeyed forward until broad daylight, when they found
themselves fairly among the high range of hills which in this portion of
California comes down almost to the edge of the sea. The scenery was
bleak and rugged, and the country was barren and showed very few signs
of vegetation, so that for all practical purposes they were little
better than if in the sandy desert of the south-eastern portion of the
State.

They observed, too, a disagreeable change in the climate. The moist
winds of the Pacific being cooled by these mountains caused the air to
become chilly and foggy and all felt the need of additional clothing.

They had now concluded to pass through these hills to the Salinas Valley
and then follow this northward until they reached the more settled
portion of California, or come upon a party of miners or hunters, in
whose company they could feel safe against the treacherous Indians, and
who might perhaps afford them their much-needed weapons and more
abundant food.

The latter question assumed the first importance with them. They saw no
fruits, and very few animals. The discharge of their rifle was
dangerous, as it could be heard at a great distance, and if there is any
creature that is extraordinarily inquisitive it is the American
aborigine.

Several times they heard the faint report of guns in the distance, but
for some days saw no human beings except themselves. At night, when they
lay down to rest, Terror kept a more faithful watch over them than
either of their number could do. They generally found some secure place
among the rocks where they could slumber in safety.

On the third day after the shipwreck they crossed the dividing ridge and
had a view of Salinas or San Buenaventura Valley. It was comparatively
narrow, looking straighter than it really was, from the towering Coast
Range that rose in vast massive ridges, several of the peaks piercing
the clouds and reaching far up into the snow line. This was indeed an
impassable barrier to their further progress beyond the valley, had they
wished to make the attempt; for among those wild regions, where at
midsummer the snow is whirled in blinding eddies, and the storm howls
through gorges and canyons, and the lost traveler gropes blindly for a
secure foothold along the mountain paths--it would have