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we had here good grass & excellent water in deep holes or springs called "Bonarks? Wells" 26th sunday lay by to recruit our animals = had a sermon from a member of the other company (a Preacher) Mr Batchelor here came up with us he started from the Mormon City thursday morning = hurried on to overtake us = did not know when he reached the desert = & would perhaps have perished = as he had about given up hope = when he came in sight of the waggons = ^ he was in nearly a fainting condition they gave him water & after he had rested he came on = we did not lose an animal = on guard from 10 to 12 = 27 started about four oclock to travel again in the night as we have another stretch of 35 miles to water = our road was quite level = with some wild sage bushes, but no grass = the ground in places crusted with saline matter = we travelled 'till moondown & it was with great difficulty I could keep awake on my mule after stopping we tied our animals to sage bushes; & I having some shorts & a canteen of water - my mules had better fare than the others = after they were cared for I spread my blankets on the ground & slept very soundly 'till morning 28th about sunrise we were in the saddle again crossed the ridge of mountains before us travelling up a ravine & struck directly for an opposite ridge some 12 or 15 miles distant we reached our camp at "chiles cache" about 11 = we found water partly in pools & tolerable good = spent the day here = just about sundown the mules became frightened in some way & stampeded in a body = they swept around in a circle at full speed they would pass the camp = this was our only chance = what if we could not stop them? & ^ we should be left alone & on foot among the deserts wastes? the probabilities were that we would perish before we could extricate ourselves = these thoughts flashed through our mind & we all acted simultaneously we ran to stop them spreading over as much space as possible & succeeded in heading them off = we picketed most of our animals now to guard against a repetition of the stampede = Ice formed tonight in our basins quite