e and went to it, finding a poor lone camper taking care of
himself. They camped here also. It seemed as if there were many men from
the various parties scattered all around the country, each one seeking
out the path which seemed to suit best his tender feet or present fancy,
steering west as well as mountains and canon would permit, some farther
north, some farther south and generally demoralized, each thinking that
as a last resort he would be able to save his own life. It seemed to be
a question of will and endurance, strong hearts and keeping the body in
motion. The weak and faint must fail, and the strong said to the
weak;--"Stand up; be a man; don't fall down;" and so the strong spurred
on the weak and kept them up as best they could.

Down the mountain they went, on the west side and instead of Los
Angeles, which some of them expected to see, they saw only a salt lake
in the midst of a barren desert valley and their route lay directly
across it. They traveled in several directions as they went across. One
went across the valley on a strip of dried mud between two small lakes.
Others followed down along the east side of the lake near the foot of
the mountain, where they found some good water and an old Indian camp.
They found some mosquite beans, which they did not know were of much
use, but really, if they had known how to fix them up a little they
would have been good food.

Capt. Doty's mess crossed between the lakes on the strip of dry mud
while others went on where it was still soft and left marks of their
foot-steps. Both parties turned up a small canon on the west side and
began the ascent of a black and barren range, containing no water, but
in the bed of the ravine near the summit they found some damp sand and
tried to dig with their hands to find some of the precious fluid. But no
water came, and in the morning one of their number Mr. Fish died and was
left unburied on the barren rocks. No doubt his bones could be found
there to-day.

Turning west again, they had a down grade over a most barren and rocky
road for many miles. The prospect from this point was any thing but
cheering. To the left a large lake could be seen, and from their
previous experience they concluded it to be salt, and the valley they
were coming to was very sandy, and the hardest sort of footing for men
and animals as weak as those of the party were. It must be crossed
before there was any possibility of water, and when across it wa