Nothing could be done to relieve him, and if his
strength lasted till we could get better air, water and food he might
recover, but his chances were very poor.
Not much rest at this camp for in the morning we aimed to start early
and reach the water in the foothills. We thought we could do it if we
started early, walked rapidly and took no resting spell at noon. Such a
poor soil as this we were anxious to get away from, and walk once more
on a soil that would grow something besides stunted sage brush. From all
appearances the Jayhawkers were here in about the same predicament
Rogers and I were when we lost the trail. By their tracks we could see
they had scattered wide and there was no road left for us to follow, and
they had evidently tried to follow our former tracks. Having no trail to
follow we passed on as best we could and came to a wide piece of land on
which were growing a great many cabbage trees. The soil was of the
finest dust with no grit in it, and not long before a light shower had
fallen, making it very soft and hard to get along in with the moccasins.
The women had to stop to rest frequently, so our progress was very slow.
Rogers and I had feet about as hard as those of the oxen, so we removed
our moccasins and went barefoot, finding we could get along much easier
in that way, but the others had such tender feet they could not endure
the rough contact with the brush and mud. Only a few miles had been made
before the women were so completely tired out that we had to stop and
eat our little bit of dried meat and wait till morning.
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