A disagreeable sand-storm enveloped the column as it left the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, preceded by the detachment of Apache scouts. A few words in regard to the peculiar methods of the Apaches in marching and conducting themselves while on a campaign may not be out of place. To veterans of the campaigns of the Civil War familiar with the compact formations of the cavalry and infantry of the Army of the Potomac, the loose, straggling methods of the Apache scouts would appear startling, and yet no soldier would fail to apprehend at a glance that the Apache was the perfect, the ideal, scout of the whole world. When Lieutenant Gatewood, the officer in command, gave the short, jerky order, Ugashé--Go!--the Apaches started as if shot from a gun, and in a minute or less had covered a space of one hundred yards front, which distance rapidly widened as they advanced, at a rough, shambling walk, in the direction of Dos Cabezas (Two Heads), the mining camp near which the first halt was to be made. [Illustration: APACHE INDIAN SCOUTS EXAMINING TRAILS BY NIGHT.] They moved with no semblance of regularity; individual fancy alone governed. Here was a clump of three; not far off two more, and scattered in every point of the compass, singly or in clusters, were these indefatigable scouts, with vision as keen as a hawk’s, tread as untiring and as stealthy as the panther’s, and ears so sensitive that nothing escapes them. An artist, possibly, would object to many of them as undersized, but in all other respects they would satisfy every requirement of anatomical criticism. Their chests were broad, deep, and full; shoulders perfectly straight; limbs well-proportioned, strong, and muscular, without a suggestion of undue heaviness; hands and feet small and taper but wiry; heads well-shaped, and countenances often lit up with a pleasant, good-natured expression, which would be more constant, perhaps, were it not for the savage, untamed cast imparted by the loose, disheveled, gypsy locks of raven black, held away from the face by a broad, flat band of scarlet cloth. Their eyes were bright, clear, and bold, frequently expressive of the greatest good-humor and satisfaction. Uniforms had been issued, but were donned upon ceremonial occasions only. On the present march each wore a loosely fitting shirt of red, white, or gray stuff, generally of calico, in some gaudy figure, but not infrequently the sombre article of woollen raiment issued to white soldiers. This came down outside a pair of loose cotton drawers, reaching to the moccasins. The moccasins are the most important articles of Apache apparel. In a fight or on a long march they will discard all else, but under any and every circumstance will retain the moccasins. These had been freshly made before leaving Willcox. The Indian to be fitted stands erect upon the ground while a companion traces with a sharp knife the outlines of the sole of his foot upon a piece of rawhide. The leggin is made