care of himself and not be watched every minute, and they relaxed their
vigilance. He soon fell off, and when they went to him he refused to be
put back on the animal again or to walk any farther. "Just spread my
blankets down," said he, "and I will lie down and rest a little and
after a while I will come along into camp." So they left him and pushed
on to water, and when they were a little refreshed went back to him with
water, and to help him to come in, but when they came to him they found
him dead. He did not seem to have moved after he had lain down. He did
not seem so bad off as Shannon was when he lay down, and probably a few
swallows of water at that time would have saved his life. It seemed sad
indeed, after so much suffering and striving to get along, that he
should die within a mile of water that would have saved his life. If he
had possessed a little more strength so that the spark of life could
have remained a little longer, the cooling moisture from the canteen
would have revived it, and a little rest would have placed him on his
feet again. They had no tools to dig a grave, not even a knife for they
had left every weight in camp, so they covered him closely in his
blankets and sadly returned to their friends. They had all along hoped
that the Frenchman who had wandered away would come in, but he never
came. There were several water holes scattered around at this point
which seemed to be a sort of sunken place in the hills, and quite large
brush could be obtained for fire, and grass for the oxen. Those who had
been good hunters and had thrown away their rifles as useless burdens,
now began to look at hills before them and think that game might be
found in them, as well as water. There were only one or two guns in the
whole party, They thought that this must surely be the edge of the great
desert they had crossed, and only the snow range before them could be
the obstacle that separated them from Los Angeles.

One day from here would bring them to the edge of the snow, and they
debated as to the best course to pursue. Some of them were fearful they
could not cross the snow with the oxen, for it seemed to be quite deep.
The best place to cross seemed directly west of them. South was a higher
peak, and to the north it was surely impassible. There seemed to be a
faint sign of a trail from this point towards the lowest point in the
snow mountains. There were some bones of cattle around the springs which
they tho