ever forget the taste of the oatmeal with fresh milk, the eggs
and butter, and delicious tomatoes, which were served to us in his
latticed dining-room.

After twenty-three days of heat and glare, and scorching winds,
and stale food, Fort Yuma and Mr. Haskell's dining-room seemed like
Paradise.

Of course it was hot; it was August, and we expected it. But the heat
of those places can be much alleviated by the surroundings. There were
shower baths, and latticed piazzas, and large ollas hanging in the
shade of them, containing cool water. Yuma was only twenty days from San
Francisco, and they were able to get many things direct by steamer. Of
course there was no ice, and butter was kept only by ingenious devices
of the Chinese servants; there were but few vegetables, but what was to
be had at all in that country, was to be had at Fort Yuma.

We staid one more day, and left two companies of the regiment there.
When we departed, I felt, somehow, as though we were saying good-bye to
the world and civilization, and as our boat clattered and tugged away
up river with its great wheel astern, I could not help looking back
longingly to old Fort Yuma.

CHAPTER VI. UP THE RIO COLORADO

And now began our real journey up the Colorado River, that river unknown
to me except in my early geography lessons--that mighty and untamed
river, which is to-day unknown except to the explorer, or the few people
who have navigated its turbulent waters. Back in memory was the picture
of it on the map; here was the reality, then, and here we were, on the
steamer "Gila," Captain Mellon, with the barge full of soldiers towing
on after us, starting for Fort Mojave, some two hundred miles above.

The vague and shadowy foreboding that had fluttered through my mind
before I left Fort Russell had now also become a reality and crowded out
every other thought. The river, the scenery, seemed, after all, but an
illusion, and interested me but in a dreamy sort of way.

We had staterooms, but could not remain in them long at a time, on
account of the intense heat. I had never felt such heat, and no one else
ever had or has since. The days were interminable. We wandered around
the boat, first forward, then aft, to find a cool spot. We hung up our
canteens (covered with flannel and dipped in water), where they would
swing in the shade, thereby obtaining water which was a trifle cooler
than the air. There was no ice, and consequently no fresh provisions.