Thus passed away the first day of our journey; and when the faint beams of the sinking sun were playing upon the tops of the river cotton-woods we halted for the night on the green banks of the Arkansas. After watering the horses and picketing them in the most favorable spot for grazing, the new party took its first supper in its own camp. Our facilities for _cooking_ were somewhat limited to those _inexperienced_ in camp-life; so, of course, the duty of getting supper devolved on me. Though the boys felt a little adverse to a rough hunter’s hands going into the dough, the little cloud was soon lifted from their delicacies by the sight of an ovenful of large, light, brown-topped biscuits, which Will said looked as though a Nebraska baker had made them. Our fare, in addition to this, consisted of roast potatoes with the hides on,--as cow-boys say,--meat, and sirup. The boys ate with a relish; and after washing the dishes,--consisting of a tin-pan and a knife apiece,--and considerable boasting as to who had eaten the most supper, and remarks as to how well it _tasted_, the blankets were stretched beneath the green-spreading foliage of a little cotton-wood tree, and the little party, with but a single blanket between them and the earth and a similar _covering_, lay down to dream of the peculiarities of western life. There we lay, gazing at the bright, twinkling stars and listening to the music of the purple waters of the Arkansas as they rolled over a rocky riffle just above, until slumber closed our eyes and shut our thoughts from the fields of nature. We awoke at the first note of the curious little songster among the branches above us; and after the boys had related their dreams, we all went down to the river. The boys said it was the first time they had ever used an Arkansas wash-basin. Biscuits were then made without any _objection_ on the part of the boys. Breakfast being ready, we all eat heartily; and it was not long before we were ready to roll up the valley to the west. But, lo! one of our horses, which had already become tired of the _trip_, refused to go with us any _farther_; and this caused the necessity of drafting a few resolutions, among which was the following: “_Resolved_, That no Colorado pony can stop three boys bound for the Rocky Mountains.” This resolution was at length unanimously adopted by us; and the pony being in the minority, the force of the resolution was brought to bear upon the only adverse party in the shape of a cotton-wood sapling; and after a short debate we once more pushed forward.