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haunts of many tribes, we are shunned, possibly on account of the contagious diseases among the whites, which are said to kill oflf Indians as the Asiatic plague kills Europeans. Our company has escaped the epidemic so far; so there is one blessing for which we may be thankful.
"We forded a stream to-day, called the Little Sandy, in the midst of a driving rainstorm, and are now encamped in a deep, dry gulch; that is, we call it dry, because the water runs away nearly as fast as it falls. There is a fine spring on the hillside; and some green Cottonwood which we found at the head of the gulch is being slowly coaxed into the semblance of a fire.
"May 21. The skies cleared this morning, and we have found some good grazing for the poor^ halffamished stock. We haven't travelled over a dozen miles, but we must stop and give the animals a feed. We have passed extensive beds of iron ore to-day, outcroppings of which are seen in every direction.
"May 22, We yoked up early this morning and came three miles, to the banks of the Big Sandy. The day is clear, but the roads are still muddy after the rain. The early morning was dark and foggy, the air was raw and cold, and the outlook was cheerless in the extreme. Some of the horses in a neighbor's outfit stampeded, and it has taken nearly the whole day to recapture them.
"May 27^. We hear rumors of Indian raids ahead of us, and mother is much alarmed. We must not stop for Sunday, but must hurry on to get past the danger-point. If the Indians knew how defenceless we really are, they would rout the camp before morning.
"The sluggish waters of the Big Sandy are swarming with larvse. Daddie says it's lucky they 're not mosquitoes yet; but the trains coming along a week hence will be terribly annoyed by the intruders, who are now unable to molest us.
