A life on the prairies of the "Far West" has its good chances as well as its counter chances, and no man can be happier than the true mountaineer. At first, to one accustomed to luxuries and modern refinement, nothing can be more unpleasant than a journey over the plains; but each day thus spent, hardens the traveler until meals, that a beggar in our towns or cities would hardly deign to touch, are by him eaten with a relish to which he has long been a stranger. It is on these long tramps that the dyspeptic and melancholic man becomes the liveliest of the party; his sociability often increases to such a degree that he soon can spin a yarn in a true Baron Munchausen style. Eat Carson, as he rode silently along all the following day, had been meditating over the scenes through which he had so recently passed, and also the most practicable means to be employed for the future. When the night had fully set in, without saying one word to the other members of the party, he called to a young Mexican whom he knew to be very fleet of foot and whose powers of endurance were wonderful. On his coming to him he led him one side, when, after he had depicted to the boy their fearful situation in its true colors, he told him that he held the power of saving the lives of the whole party. The New Mexicans of the north are famous as being very fleet of foot, and the great distance which they can run in a short period of time is astonishing. As a general rule, they are very partial to horses, but, when they have no riding animal, they will start on a journey of hundreds of miles and accomplish it in an incredibly short time. A journey of forty or fifty miles in a day is an ordinary circumstance with them, even when the inducement for making it has in its behalf only a minor consideration. Owing to want of mail routes, it sometimes becomes necessary to dispatch them on express duty, such as carrying one, or several letters to some distant point. Their charge is wrapped up in a handkerchief and tied about their waists to prevent being lost. Then, on a jog trot, they will start out; and over mountains and broken country they will not alter the pace for many consecutive hours, and this for a reward of one or two dollars per diem. It is not uncommon to meet traveling companions where one is on horseback and the other on foot; but notwithstanding, they will keep together for an entire journey, and complete it as quickly as if the horseman had undertaken it alone. When, by chance, they come to and stop at a village where there is a fandango or other festive scene in full blast, they will, notwithstanding their long tramp, join in and dissipate as hard as any member present. Their healthy climate, coarse but plain diet, and the great amount of exercise which they take in the open air, make them capable of a wonderful amount of physical endurance, under which they seem never to grow weary. In this respect, the only successful rivals which they have, are the Indians.