A few mezquite trees
and a chenopodiaceous shrub bordered the lake, and on these our mules
munched till they had sufficiently refreshed themselves, when the call
to saddle was sounded, and we groped silently our way in the dark. The
stoutest animals now began to stagger, and when day dawned scarcely a
man was seen mounted.
"With the sun rose a heavy fog from the south-west, no doubt from the
gulf, and, sweeping towards us, enveloped us for two or three hours,
wetting our blankets and giving relief to the animals. Before it had
disappeared we came to a patch of sun-burned grass. When the fog had
entirely dispersed we found ourselves entering a gap in the mountains,
which had been before us for four days. The plain was crossed, but we
had not yet found water. The first valley we reached was dry, and it
was not till 12 o'clock, M., that we struck the Cariso (cane) creek,
within half a mile of one of its sources, and although so close to the
source, the sands had already absorbed much of its water, and left but
little running. A mile or two below, the creek entirely disappears. We
halted, having made fifty-four miles in the two days, at the source, a
magnificent spring, twenty or thirty feet in diameter, highly
impregnated with sulphur, and medicinal in its properties.
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