We had to look over the matter very carefully and consider all the conditions and circumstances of the case.  We could see the mountains were lower to the south, but they held no snow and seemed only barren rocks piled up in lofty peaks, and as we looked it seemed the most God-forsaken country in the world.

We had been in the region long enough to know the higher mountains contained most water, and that the valleys had bad water or none at all, so that while the lower altitudes to the south gave some promise of easier crossing it gave us no promise of water or grass, without which we must certainly perish.  In a certain sense we were lost.  The clear night and days furnished us with the mean of telling the points of compass as the sun rose and set, but not a sign of life in nature’s wide domain had been seen for a month or more.  A vest pocketful of powder and shot would last a good hunter till he starved to death for there was not a living thing to shoot great or small.

We talked over our present position pretty freely, and every one was asked to speak his unbiased mind, for we knew not who might be right or who might be wrong, and some one might make a suggestion of the utmost value.  We all felt pretty much downhearted.  Our civilized provisions were getting so scarce that all must be saved for the women and children, and the men must get along some way on ox meat alone.  It was decided not a scrap of anything that would sustain life must go to waste.  The blood, hide and intestines were all prepared in some way for food.  This meeting lasted till late at night.  If some of them had lost their minds I should not have been surprised, for hunger swallows all other feelings.  A man in a starving condition is a savage.  He may be as blood-shed and selfish as a wild beast, as docile and gentle as a lamb, or as wild and crazy as a terrified animal, devoid of affection, reason or thought of justice.  We were none of us as bad as this, and yet there was a strange look in the eyes of some of us sometimes, as I saw by looking round, and as others no doubt realized for I saw them making mysterious glances even in my direction.

Morning came and all were silent.  The dim prospect of the future seemed to check every tongue.  When one left a water hole he went away as if in doubt whether he would ever enjoy the pleasure of another drop.  Every camp was sad beyond description, and no one can guide the pen to make it tell the tale as it seemed to us.  When our morning meal of soup and meat was finished, Bennett’s two teams, and the two of Arcane’s concluded their chances of life were better if they could take some provisions and strike out on foot, and so they were given what they could carry, and they arranged their packs and bade us a sorrowful good bye hoping to meet again on the Pacific Coast.  There were genuine tears shed at the parting and I believe neither party ever expected to see each other in this life again.