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the best of our situation, my clothes were torn in todays struggle, but worse than all I lost from my pocket my collection of pressed flowers. this I know I could not replace again = but on the morrow I commenced a new collection to replace them as far as possible = the search would probably have been unavailing but I was almost tempted to go back on foot, & search for them. ^ water froze in night. 3rd started as soon as we could see, without breakfasting, travelled four or five miles where we found grass for our animals = stopped a couple of hours for our animals to graze & cooked our breakfast & then started again on our journey sometimes along the side of the mountain if we could find a foot hold for our horses & sometimes in the river bottom, my ^ forward mule in crossing a small stream mired & went down in the mud & water,, I jumped in took off my telescope rifle & unpacked & helped him out & after going a few rods farther crossed another stream similar to the last my horse struggled through = my front mule mired & went down again, & the second mule undertook to jump over him, but unfortunately miscalculated & fell upon the back of the first mule pressing him nearly out of sight. I drew my hunting knife jumped in & cut my mules loose & drew the top around off the other & got him out then unpacked the other & helped him out, came near losing my watch the chain having broken. & my packs & provisions were soaked in the mud & water, & I was late at night drying my wet provisions etc by our camp fire = the river bottom grows wider as we go down & other streams make in - the soil here is also good in comparison with the sand hills & wild sage deserts we have heretofore passed = around us are snow covered mountains on every side, camped near a little creek emptying into the main stream - water froze tonight in our basins - the thickness of window glass = grass good = 4th started early, travellled as usual along the mountain sides & down the valley until