there roam thousands of savages who often, for the slightest pretext, and frequently without any reason whatever, will murder the unsuspecting traveler, as it chances to please them.  Hence, to accomplish this journey, it was not only necessary to know the direction to shape their course, but also to be familiar with the haunts and habits of these various tribes, in order to avoid them.  All of this knowledge, Kit Carson, the mainspring of this little party, was well possessed of, and, as a matter of business, guided himself and men in a direct and safe course.

The hardships and privations of this trip were trivial affairs when compared to most of Kit Carson’s previous adventures, and not considered by him as worthy of mention.  Indeed, Kit Carson appears so hardened in all kinds of vicissitudes, that a man, in his eyes, must have stood on the brink of death before he has seen much real suffering; but, probably, if the reader had been one of the members of this party, he would, unless equally experienced in Western frontier life, have considered that he had seen something of the world, and the rough side of it at that.

It requires no small amount of courage and determination to start out with but a handful of men to perform the difficult and dangerous task of threading the American continent from tide to tide, even at the present epoch; but, eleven years ago, there were few men living who had ever performed, or were able to perform the feat at all; much less with the certainty and speed which lay within the power and experience possessed by Kit Carson.  In describing these trips, he now speaks of them as lightly as a man would after making a journey of a few hundred miles in a railroad car.  He seems to have acted with the idea that this duty was expected of him, and it required but the official orders to send him bounding over the country, without regard to obstacles or dangers.  His final object was his destination; which, on reaching, he was ready to quit at a moment’s warning, with as much sang froid as a Russian courier possesses when doing his master’s bidding.  Yet so cautious is he when traveling, that, at first, to a new companion, he often appears to be wanting in courage.  Not a bush, a tree, a rock, or any other hiding-place on his path, escapes his notice.  Towards the heavens, in search of smoke ascending from, or crows, as they hover about Indian encampments which are deserted, or for ravens, and back again to the earth, on the look-out for moccasin or horse tracks, his eyes are continually turning.  There is a nervous action about the man that shows he is ever alive to meet and be ready for any emergency.  These traits are sure to instill confidence in his followers.