assist them when necessary, allow the herd to scatter over a space
varying in its size, but always allowing sufficient area so that the
animals can move on at their ease and at the same time be able to
feed. The danger above all others that is to be apprehended and
guarded against, while thus travelling, is crowding; for, in this
manner, when journeying through deep gorges in the mountains and over
the precipitous banks of rivers, hundreds of sheep can be, and not
unfrequently are, smothered. When this crowding commences, it is next
to impossible to arrest it; a sort of panic prevails over the entire
herd, and they rush on, one on top of another, until a mass of dead
and dying is thus piled up and a barrier is made; or else, until, as
most frequently happens, a bridge of carcasses is formed over which
the survivors pass in safety. The Indians who inhabit the country
on the various routes to California, have a strong predilection for
mutton, which is a fact to bear in mind when migrating with this
sort of property. Such accidents as having a few sheep bitten by
rattlesnakes, and also a certain percentage becoming foot-sore and
breaking down from fatigue, are common to every herd that crosses the
Rocky Mountains. Economy in living is the great fundamental principle
among the lower classes of the Mexicans; therefore, when a sheep is
going to die from fatigue, or any simple disease, natural death is
anticipated by the herders with the aid of the hunting-knife, and the
meat, being dressed and cooked, is unhesitatingly eaten by them.
Next to the Mexican shepherd, his dog, although he is not generally a
handsome animal, is found to be ever faithful in guarding the flocks.
The greatest enemy to the herds is the wolf; and in keeping them at
bay, and preventing their inroads by night, the dog is capable of
performing valuable service; hence, no band of sheep should cross the
plains and mountains without a full complement of them. It was at one
of the frontier towns of California that Kit Carson disposed of his