If we
should be so fortunate as to encounter no Indians we
might get through. But within a week the purpose of
the expedition had altered from discovery of wealth
to preservation of life. We had gone too far to go
back, for what was ahead could be no worse than
what was behind; so we pushed on, riding by night
to avoid Indians and the intolerable heat, and con-
cealing ourselves by day as best we could. Some-
times, having exhausted our supply of wild meat
and emptied our casks, we were days without food
or drink; then a water-hole or a shallow pool in
the bottom of an arroyo so restored our strength
and sanity that we were able to shoot some of the
wild animals that sought it also. Sometimes it was
a bear, sometimes an antelope, a coyote, a cougar--
that was as God pleased; all were food.
'One morning as we skirted a mountain range,
seeking a practicable pass, we were attacked by a
band of Apaches who had followed our trail up a
gulch--it is not far from here. Knowing that they
outnumbered us ten to one, they took none of their
usual cowardly precautions, but dashed upon us
at a gallop, firing and yelling. Fighting was out of
the question: we urged our feeble animals up the
gulch as far as there was footing for a hoof, then
threw ourselves out of our saddles and took to the
chaparral on one of the slopes, abandoning our en-
tire outfit to the enemy. But we retained our rifles,
every man--Ramon Gallegos, William Shaw,
George W.
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