been still harder, and that being overcome by numbers, they were necessitated to succumb; and hence, were swept, by the Indians of the plains, from the face of the earth, leaving but a dim outline of their ancient grandeur. The party found the stream very much swollen by the melting of the snows in the mountains. When they arrived at its fording-place, notwithstanding a torrent rolled before them, the command was, of a necessity, given to cross. There was no shrinking. Without a single murmur, the entire command set themselves about the perilous task. The bed of the river at this place is rocky and shelving. At low water, these facts offer no great obstacles in crossing. The case is very different when the torrent has reached high-water mark--then, a single step will often plunge horse and rider into the angry waters beyond their depth. Kit Carson boldly took the lead, and before the infantry had all passed, the horses of the dragoons had to be sent back to assist them. To facilitate this fording, Kit Carson crossed and recrossed the stream at least twenty times. No serious accident occurred, although three of the dragoons came near being swept down the current, which, at the time, was very swift and strong. Had they gone below the fording-place, they would most assuredly have been drowned, as the river there takes a fearful leap through a cut in the rocks. Having safely gained the opposite shore, the men found that their labors had but just commenced. In front of them stood a precipice that was, at the least calculation, six hundred feet in height, of solid rock, and almost perpendicular. Up this ascent the command had to mount, by following a zigzag trail. With much trouble and toil, the summit of the height was reached, when they once more commenced their journey over a diversified country, made up of plains and ravines. No grass or water was found until the expedition arrived at a small Mexican town called Sirvilletta. Here an encampment was formed for one night, and here their animals were to have their last rations of corn and forage. The sale of these latter articles proved a windfall to, and made glad the hearts of the inhabitants of the settlement; for the money which they received, in exchange for their produce, was the largest sum they had ever possessed. Thus, in more ways than one, these campaigns in the mountains caused good results.