Of the march of the 17th, he said: "The men arrived here, [Carriso Creek camp] completely worn down; they staggered as they marched, as they did yesterday, [the 18th:] Some of the men did not find strength to reach the camp before daylight this morning. * * * I went through the companies this morning; they were eating their last four ounces of flour; of sugar and coffee there has been none for weeks. I have remaining only five public wagons, there are three private property." Yet, as showing the spirit of these Battalion men in such plight he writes of the evening in camp of that same day--"The men, who this morning were prostrate, worn out, hungry, heartless, have recovered their spirits to-night, and are singing and playing the fiddle."[47:d] =From Carriso Creek to San Phillips.=--The march from Carriso Creek was to San Phillips, an Indian village on a small stream of the same name. It was on approaching San Phillips that the rugged heart of the coast mountains was encountered, "which seemed to defy aught save the wild goat," according to Col. Cooke's description; over which "with crow bar and pick and axe in hand," he continues, "the Battalion worked its way." Here also the "chasm of living rock, more narrow than their wagons," was encountered, through which they hewed a passage for the wagons, the Colonel himself taking a hand in the hewing. "I came to the canyon," says the Colonel, "and found it much worse than I had been led to expect [i. e. by the report of the guides]; there were many rocks to surmount, but the worst was the narrow pass. Setting the example myself, there was much work done on it before the wagons came; the rock was hewn with axes to increase the opening. I thought it wide enough, and going on, found a hill to be ascended, to avoid a still narrower pass, a great rock had to be broken, before it could be crossed. But when a trial was made, at the first pass, it was found too narrow by a foot of solid rock. More work was done, and several trials made. The sun was now only an hour high, and it was about seven miles to the first water. I had a wagon taken to pieces, and carried through. Meanwhile, we still hewed and hammered at the mountain side; but the best road tools had been lost. * * * The next wagon body was lifted through, and then the running gear, by lifting one side; then I rode on again, and saw a wagon up the very steep hill, and down again to the canyon. The work on the pass was perseveringly continued, and the last two wagons were pulled through by the mules, with loads undisturbed." The confused information respecting the state of hostilities, the likelihood of meeting retreating bands of Californians, en route for the Mexican state of Sonora, led the Colonel to renew his march on the 19th in a more strictly military order than he had hitherto followed, and the Battalion, while waiting for the wagons to come up, was exercised on a prairie in military tactics.