The Count of El Dorado.

Otago Witness, Issue 987, 29 October 1870, Page 19

The Count of El Dorado.

Chapter XX.

After emerging from the capreal of the Mormon settlement, the hardships of the journey seemed doubly rigorous to the ad venturers. In truth they were more severe than any they had hitherto experienced. Not the smallest among them were the mosquitoes, which they had literally to tear from their faces, the blood following the venomous Btings. But want of water was worse than the mosquitoes. Soon after they left the Utah Valley they came into a district where the water was all more or less brackish. It was undrinkable by itself. Then they tried to make coffee with it, but the evaporation caused by boiling made it all the stronger and more concentrated in its brackishness. Besides, they could not administer coffee to the animals, which went ofE their feed with thirst, and became so restless that they required the most careful watching throughout the night. Two or three days had passed in this forlorn fashion, Leslie having much ado to keep up the spirits of a large proportion of his followers, when at length he resolved on a deter- j mined effort to get out of the dry and parched land in which no waters were. According to the rough- route track which he had got in Utah, water should not be far away, and he was in hopes of reaching it by a single forced march. He started his company soon after midnight, that they might enjoy cool travelling as long as possible ; and he sent horsemen forward in quest of the eager-desired water springs, with orders to ride back at speed with tidings of the discovery whon it should have been made. But hour after hour passed, and none appeared. Leslie's eyeballs were sore from straining, and his mind became almost unhinged by nervous anxiety. At one time there was a gleam of hope, only to be quenched in a fresh access of despondency. Two horsemen appeared in sight, but their dejected air soon indicated they were not the bearers of good tidings. They were indeed exhausted themselves, and unable to pursue the search further. The teamster sank listlessly in the saddles, while the fierce sun almost crackled in intensity, producing a reeling sensation and a dimness of vision, in the midst of which the tantalising mirage showed itself only to mock. Still they staggered on, for to halt, was to die ; and at length, when the afternoon was far spent, the noise of gallopni: hoofs saluted their ears, and one of the pioneers rode in among the parched men, his canteen fall of water, and bearing the glad tidings that he had found a stream only couple of miles off. All this country they were now traversing was more or less of a desert, impregnated with saline and sulphurous particles, and forming that extraordinary physical feature known as the "Great Basin"— a kind of shallow cup of some five hundred miles diameter either way, between four and five thousand feet above the level of the sea, shut in all around by mountains, with its own system of lakes and rivers having no connec tion with the sea, and partly and sparsely inhabited by tribes of degraded Indians. Its interior is a succession of sharp mountain ranges and naked plains, destitute of wood, water, and grass. The westernmost portion of it is a fearful desert, like the arid tract surrounding the Red Sea, and beyond this is the precipitous range of the Sierra Nevada, with California on the further side. The track which led to the margin of this desert had been defined to Leslie as along the course of the Humboldt River, and he had a hope, which was not unnatural, that the stream would at least furnish water, and that its margin would be productive of grass for the wants of his animals. Before he had done with the Humboldt he found out how fallacious had been his anticipations. After some mountainous experiences, the final precipice was crowned, and the Valley of the Humboldt lay before the view of the adventurers. They had pictured it smiling in fertile beauty. They saw before them a Weak track of sand, pitted -with holes half full of putrid water, and with a sluggish, unwholesome stream meandering in its centre, fringed with a scanty crop of stunted willows Its waters were as the waters of Marah, and the wonder was, how the scanty vegetation on the brink extracted any nutriment at all from the brackish and bitter fluid. The track along the bank was comparatively level, but the journeying was dismal in the extreme, from the clouds of hot dust which perpetually enveloyed the wagons. It was not sand, but a gomorrah-like substance, as light as ashes, which rose in clouds, per meating everywhere, and choking the throats and nostrils of men and horses. Occasionly, as they advanced through this Sahara, one of its familiar spirits became visible in the shape of a Digger Indian, too imbecile for terror — too lazy to run away. Not too lafcy though to eat with voracity. One of the creatures happened to be near on the occasion of a halt for nooning. Good-hearted Donovan shied a biscuit to the "noble" savage, which he bolted as a boa constrictor would a rabbit. Always whimsical, Donovan proposed that they should ascertain how much their dusky friend could stow away. • Biscuit and bacon were showered upon him in profusion, but, by some extraordinary legerdemain, he kept abreast of the avalanche of scraps, which disappeared with an insatiable rapidity that suggested the idea that his stomach was a bottomless reservoir. > At length he finished the cooked meat, and, like Alexander, seemed to sigh for more worlds to conquer. So Donovan cut a great wedge off a raw flitch of bacon, which the Indian attacked with unflagging vigour ; but before he had finished it he showed symptoms of choking, aud at length rolled over in a f fote Qt c«p. However, Vsiore tW w «re|

ready for a start, he partly recovered himself, and, having gotpn his legs with a great'effort, toddled of slfwiy and awkwardly, sitting down at every few strides, like a fellow rest, ing unJer a heavy load.

There was considerable sameness in the weary journey down the Humboldt ltiver — sameness in bad pasture, bad water, sore lips, inliamed eyes, and irritated lungs. The interim goal was the " Sink," a kind of trough in which this peculiar river wholly disappears. A.t length this was reached, a great stinking expanse of marshy swamp, interspersed with stagnant ponds and sloughs, the surrounding plains covered with a deep saline incrustation, the prevalent odour of the whole locality being that of rotten eggs. And trying as the journey already had been, there was yet to be encountered the most hazardous portion, in the expanse of "desert," 150 miles across, which lay between the " Sink " and the Sierra Nevada. Their teams had become weak and attentuated, and while as yet there was water of a sort, hardly able to drag the wagons, still laden as they were with a considerable weight. How, then, would they be able to cross the " desert," on which there was no water, and where the wheels would sink deep into the powdery saud, according to the information the Mormons had given Leslie.

He and his chief advisers, the Count and Andy South, held a council of war, the result of which was a determination to reduce the loads by casting away everything which was not actually accessary. The proposition being submitted to the men, was cheerfully agreed to. Bacon, biscuit, peas, beans, and coffee were overhauled, and the stocks of each cut down, according to a calculation of the rations which would be requisite till the destination was reached. Then a quantity of superfluous powder and shot was hove into the Sink, as also some lumbering gold-v ashing cradles and boxes of tools. Altogether the load of each wagon was diminished by 5 cwt., leaving a load for each of about 7 cwt., which was the lowest standard that could be reached. But so enfeebled were the teams that six mules dragged this diminished load with more effort than they did the 22 cwt., which each load weighed, at starting. The rejected provisions were laid in such a position that they might be observed by any succeeding party of emigrants, to whom they might be useful, but probably the Indians administered to the effects soon after the band quitted the spot.

The start into the desert was made at midnight, the great thing being to cross it without a halt. Hardly had they got the " Sink " out of sight when the clouds of nauseous dust arose, binding the men and driving the mules into madness with the irritation it caused. The trail was not hard to keep, for they had not advanced above twenty miles into the desert when they came at frequent intervals upon abandoned wagons and putrid carcases, oftenest of animals, but occasionally, too, of human beings who had perished under the hardships of the dreadful journey. A few sights of this kind they had seen in coming down the Humboldt River, but they were much commoner in the desert, and increased in frequency as progress was made through it. In the morning the adventurers emerged on a hard plain, broken in places, but devoid of a particle of vegetation. The sun was so ardent here that the atmosphere seemed full of smoke, and by-and bye the feebler men began to give out. When a brief halt was made at midday four of the band, in a state of incipient insanity, came to Leslie and furiously demanded water — as if he had any. They left him cursing, and threw themselves sullenly under the wagons, moaning piteously. When the time came for a move two of the men were found stark-staring mad, and had to be placed on the wagons and tied down by main force. Some of the teamsters refused to mount, while the poor fellows who had thrown themselves under the wagons lay grovelling after they had moved on, till the broiling sun forced them to rise and stagger onward. In short, total demoralisation seemed setting in, and Leslie had nobody to whom he could confide save Andy South, who seemed a Salamander, the Scotsman, and black Cato. Donovan, always frank and ready, was mad and strapped down in the wagon, while the Count had also succumbed in his weak state, and had to be entrusted with the duty of seeing that the insane men did not break loose and do themselves a mischief.

But help came from an unexpected quarter, and, as good often does come, under the guise of evil. A gust or two of wind presaged a whirlwind It could be seen advancing across the plain, flinging up before it a great cloud of dust. No shelter was obtainable, and all that could be done was to back the wagons in a line to it, and await the issue. It came upon them with vehemence ; tearing up the sand till a wreath was made where the obstacle of the wagons was encountered Behind this there was some shelter, but it 6eeTied questionable whetherthe heavy wagons would not themselves become the playthings of the storm. One of the roofs after another were torn off, and went whirling out of sight like feathers. But behind the wind was the rain, which presently came pouring down in torrents, as if the windows of Heaven had been opened. In a twinkling everything was drenched. But that was nothing. The cool drops were grateful to the fevered frames of the men and animals, the pores of the skin absorbing the moisture so greedily that the shower was hardly over before the saturated garments were as dry as tinder again. Those in the wagons greedily squeezed the moisture out of the sheets, and managed to obtain a few mouthfuU of rain water. All were endowed with fresh vigor ; despondency gave place to hope and alacrity ; the mules pulled as if they had been ia fat pastures for a week, 91)4 tiie desert lost its terrors, Put *o«e

pitiable sights were seen before the Carson River wUs Teached. A couple of emigrant parties, whose .wagons hadheen drawn by oxteams, had been forced" to halt in the desert by the death of most of their animals, Hope had almost deserted them till the rain fell, and many had died, their bodies lying on the plain, the survivors being too weak to give them burial. Revived by the rainfall, a general move seemed to be made to get out of the fearful pace. Leslie's party overtook the poor creatures trudging forward by twos and threes, weak and weary, hoping for nothing but to reach the Carson and find plenty of water. An unfortunate woman was overtaken staggering over the burning plains, and carrying her helpless children on her back while drooping herself from sickness and exhaustion. Common humanity prompted Leslie and his followers to succour these poor wretches to the best of their ability. The fate t'iat had overtaken them might have been their own, but for the endurance of their mules over the oxen. There were, however, those who had no bowels of compassion for their helpless fellow-mortals. Two or three small parties had established a profitable, but heartless, commerce with these poor creatures. Their stopk-in-trade was water, which they packed in small kegs on their mules, and, plunging into the desert from the Carson river side, retailed it at the most exorbitant rates ; and, if their demands were not complied with, turned their backs callously on the poor creatures who could not satisfy their demands, and left them to perish. All that Leslie and his friends could do for the forlorn ones they did. They conveyed them to the edge of the Carson, and leaving them by the unaccustomed sweet water, went back into the desert with the mule teams, and fetched for them their wagons, and such of their oxen as had survived. By condensing their stores it thus became possible for them to proceed, after the human beings and the animals had regained their strength.

The way lay up the Carson (which ultimately sinks like the Humboldt, engulphed in the Great Basin) while the great range of the Sierra Nevada reared before them its snow, clad pinnacles. This was the last obstacle in their way. It passed, the gold country would lie at their feet, the Dorado which they had dared so much to reach. But, although it was the last obstacle, the Sierra promised to be not the least formidable. Its eastern slopes were extremely beautiful, abounding in gigantic trees, which Andy South declared were " so tarnation stout it would tire a rat to run round them " Just inside the inner wall of the mountain the stream they were following broke into a seiies of cataracts, and it became necessary to cross it just above one of these. The bottom was so uneven and the current so rapid that the attempt was very hazardous, especially looking at the pit which seethed and hissed only a couple of hundred yards below ; but there was no help for it. A quantity of stores were rolled down the steep banks into the bed of the stream, with a view to fill up the holes — the men then plunging and adjusting these so as to make a kind of causeway. It was nervous work to guide a team across the causeway from the saddle, and once the foremost mules swerved, and all seemed over. But the driver was equal to the occasion, and kept the animals in hand till assistance came, and the team set straight again ; and when the first wagon was across the others followed without accident or interruption.

The final pass was more like a wall than a wagon track. It became necessary to unload all the wagons, and apportion the contents among the mules, which were driven up the rugged face, climbing like cats. There were three ascents in all, each separated by a narrow ledge, which afforded breathing room — ehe, had the ascent been all in one, it would have been impracticable. The horses without any load at all could haidly be driven up the preciptous incline, and a couple fell backwards, and rolling to the bottom among a shower of displaced rocks were killed. Three journeys were made with the sores ; then came the worst of all, the bringing up of the empty wagons. To each of these in succession five pairs of mules were fastened, and even then|one of the wagons overpowered the team, and dragged it back at headlong speed, killing the two wheel mules before they could be cut loose. Near the top of the ascent was a very ugily turn round the face of a perpendicular rock, with a dreadful chasm below, through which hissed and roared an impetuous mountain torrent. So narrow was the space that the outside wheels of the wagons had not above a couple cf inches to spare of being over the giddy precipice.

There was one other ascent, which carried them into the regions of perpetual snow, and then it was all down hUI work after this, although occasionally the progress was very hazardous, especially in crossing a slanting glacier. All were in too good heart, with California lying at their feet, to trouole much about minor difficulties. Presently, at intervals, a glimpse became visible through the great pine trees of an open level space to the westward where lay the Valley of the Sacramento, and the men were in expectation of chancing on some advanced party of miners. On the following day this anticipation was fulfilled. A level valley, heavily timbered with white oak and evergreens, was reached, at the top of which were met some Chilians prospecting for gold on the banks of a little stream. All halted to watch the operations in curious interest. They saw the pans full of mad and dirt gathered, and after a short and simple process of washing, there, in the bottom of the basins, lay specks here anl there of the veritable precious metal. A cheer rang out ; Leslie served out a drink all around for luck, and the men. went at it furi-onsly-bjttea wjft tfae fgojd. m.»j> it w»i

I with some difficulty towards evening he per•suaded them to quit the little stream and proceed further down to Weher Town, the high-sounding name of what turned out to be a very primitive mining settlement But gold was plentiful, primitive as was the place; men owned to two or three ounces a day, with very little work. The population consisted of a few Americans, a Scotsman or two, a few Jews, and a motley throny of Mexicans Chilians, and Indian half-cistes. Leslie was anxious to bring his band lower down into the Valley of the Sacramento before he finally broke it up, as there a price so much larser was to be procured for their mules and wagons ; but the men had •' smelt" gold, and no persuasion availed to move them from their resolution of beginning work at once and on the spot So a sale by auction was rudely advertised in the rou^h Weber Town community, and the mules and wagons were sold — Mr. South acting as auctioneer — at extraordinary prices The same evening the band convened under the shad? of a great oak tree, when the final arrangements were made, and its dissolution as a company of emigrant travellers was accomplished amidst much cordiality and hearty expressions of goodwill. The members formed themselves into smaller parties for mining purposes, owning still a kind of theoretical constitution for the purpose of mutual aid, with Andy South as the nominal dictator.

Leslie not only resigned the captaincy, but quitted Weber Town. His friend the Count had not been himself ever since his adventure with the Indians, and the desert had increased Ms illness. He had a foreboding that his malady might have a fatal termination, and was anxious to reach San Francisco in view of some arrangements which he contemplated. j So urgent was he in his entreaty that Leslie should accompany him that the latter postponed his own plans, and journeyed forward to San Francisco along with his ailing friend. (To be continued.)