I reloaded, went back to the bloody trail, and found the deer dead about thirty yards ahead. I broke it up, skinned it, and placed the rump and bits of the liver before the fire which I lit, while Trusty had the kidneys and then amused himself with the shoulder blades. I stretched the skin out before the fire, as I intended to take it with me to sleep on. I enjoyed my breakfast, to which I ate but little of the salt I carried in my bag in a bladder in case of need. Trusty had also eaten heartily and pacified his hunger. I cut some good lumps off the deer's back, filled my flask with fresh water, and set out once more, still hoping to reach the river. I walked up hill and down, having on my left the lofty mountain ranges, and in front of me a sea of rocks whose end I could not see. I was accustomed to such scenes of solitude, still I now greatly felt what a difference there is in looking down from the back of a stout horse on the desert and having to cross the enormous tracks on foot. The only anxiety that oppressed me was the agony my comrades must be feeling about me, as they would naturally suppose that some accident had happened to me. I knew they would not quit these mountains till they were certain of my fate, and I listened continually for signal shots. I dared not fire them for fear of expending my ammunition, and it would have been unnecessary, as they would certainly not neglect this method of showing me the road to them. The day passed without my hearing the echo of a shot, and the sun was rather low when I reached a small stream whose banks were both rather thickly covered with wood. I resolved to spend the night here, as I had wood and water, and was protected from the weather, which had got up rather fiercely since the afternoon, I looked for a suitable spot, carried wood to a fallen tree, and was about to light my fire, when I looked up at the hill before me and felt a desire to take a look from it at the valley beyond to see whether the long looked-for river was there. It was still early, the sun had not yet set, and though I was tolerably tired I set out. I walked up a steep gorge into which several narrow passes opened on both sides; it was covered with several large masses of rock and loose stones, and the nearer I got to the top the narrower it grew, and the steeper were the precipices enclosing it.