_January 3._--We reached Fort Lancaster at 7 a. m., changed our mail, and started again at 11 a. m. It commenced snowing as we left Fort Lancaster, and continued to snow so rapidly that I deemed it prudent to stop about 3 o’clock p. m. We halted in a cañon 9 miles from the fort, on the edge of the Llano Estacado. It was not safe to attempt to cross this bleak plain in the face of a snow storm, with the road obliterated by the snows. We might have lost our way, or our mules might have perished from being chilled through by standing exposed, after heating themselves in the exertion of hauling the coach. I therefore made a halt and camped for the night. We then drove the mules into a cañon, where they would be partially sheltered from the wind and storm by bushes, made a fire, cooked our dinner, set the guard, and then went to bed, with the snow falling at intervals all night long. _January 4._--A fine morning, with the sun bright and pleasant, the ground covered with snow to the depth of several inches, rendering it almost impossible to roll our coach to-day. The snow would have clung to the hoofs of our mules and to the tire of our coach so as to render our progress very slow. Under these circumstances I deemed it best to send the mail forward on mules in charge of one of the two hired men, accompanied by a passenger equally familiar with the road, who very kindly volunteered to accompany the mail and rider. They each took a riding mule, also a third mule packed with the mail, provisions, and a few small articles. These animals they were to change at Fort Clarke, with yet another change, if possible, at Dharris. (They made the trip to San Antonio in good order and in time, delivering the mail at 6 a. m. the morning of the 9th.) This morning, after the mail was gone, I sent our mules back to Fort Lancaster with directions to have them well fed with grain, returning them to our camp by night with an additional supply of grain and provisions if the snow melted so that we could proceed. In the course of the afternoon, the weather looking threatening, I sent one of my clerks, who volunteered to go on foot, to the quartermaster with a request that he would send out a team of mules and haul us back to the fort; this request he promptly acceded to, and we reached there about 10 o’clock at night. Having despatched the mail, there was now no cause for our immediate haste; I, therefore, determined to recruit my animals at Fort Lancaster before continuing our journey. With this view I remained there for three days.