The only other animals were horses. Over a dozen of
these were owned by different people on the beach, and were allowed to
run loose among the hills, with a long lasso attached to them, and
pick up feed wherever they could find it. We were sure of seeing
them once a day, for there was no water among the hills, and they were
obliged to come down to the well which had been dug upon the beach.
These horses were bought at, from two, to six and eight dollars
apiece, and were held very much as common property. We generally
kept one fast to one of the houses every day, so that we could mount
him and catch any of the others. Some of them were really fine
animals, and gave us many good runs up to the Presidio and over the
country.
CHAPTER XX
LEISURE--NEWS FROM HOME--"BURNING THE WATER"
After we had been a few weeks on shore, and had begun to feel broken
into the regularity of our life, its monotony was interrupted by the
arrival of two vessels from the windward. We were sitting at dinner in
our little room, when we heard the cry of "Sail ho!" This, we had
learned, did not always signify a vessel but was raised whenever a
woman was seen coming down from the town; or a squaw, or an ox-cart,
or anything unusual, hove in sight upon the road; so we took no notice
of it.
Pages:
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282