ose women of the Twenty-third, for, joy upon joys!
They saw the "Newbern" out there in the offing, waiting to take them
back to green hills, and to cool days and nights, and to those they had
left behind, three years before.

On account of the wind, which blew again with great violence, the
"Cocopah" could not leave the slue that day. The officers and soldiers
were desperate for something to do. So they tried fishing, and caught
some "croakers," which tasted very fresh and good, after all the curried
and doctored-up messes we had been obliged to eat on board ship.

We spent seven days in and out of that slue. Finally, on August the
26th, the wind subsided and we started up river. Towards sunset we
arrived at a place called "Old Soldier's Camp." There the "Gila" joined
us, and the command was divided between the two river-boats. We were
assigned to the "Gila," and I settled myself down with my belongings,
for the remainder of the journey up river.

We resigned ourselves to the dreadful heat, and at the end of two more
days the river had begun to narrow, and we arrived at Fort Yuma, which
was at that time the post best known to, and most talked about by army
officers of any in Arizona. No one except old campaigners knew much
about any other post in the Territory.

It was said to be the very hottest place that ever existed, and from the
time we left San Francisco we had heard the story, oft repeated, of the
poor soldier who died at Fort Yuma, and after awhile returned to beg for
his blankets, having found the regions of Pluto so much cooler than the
place he had left. But the fort looked pleasant to us, as we approached.
It lay on a high mesa to the left of us and there was a little green
grass where the post was built.

None of the officers knew as yet their destination, and I found myself
wishing it might be our good fortune to stay at Fort Yuma. It seemed
such a friendly place.

Lieutenant Haskell, Twelfth Infantry, who was stationed there, came down
to the boat to greet us, and brought us our letters from home. He then
extended his gracious hospitality to us all, arranging for us to come to
his quarters the next day for a meal, and dividing the party as best he
could accommodate us. It fell to our lot to go to breakfast with Major
and Mrs. Wells and Miss Wilkins.

An ambulance was sent the next morning, at nine o'clock, to bring us up
the steep and winding road, white with heat, which led to the fort.

I can n