. Mountains and molehills; or, Recollections of a burnt journal. ut had any of my party beenunfortunate enough to have been bitten very seriouslyit was agreed between us that the unbitten onesshould immediately apply a red-hot iron to the partaffected, and then give the victim a powerful dose ofcastor oil, and leave him to repose; but I doubt ifthe complete cautery woiJd have been carried out! Before we arrived at the house Quilp had got scentof the antelope, and had departed. From this time we found ample employment for ourguns, and soon succeeded in bringing in some black-tailed deer. Hares
. Mountains and molehills; or, Recollections of a burnt journal. ut had any of my party beenunfortunate enough to have been bitten very seriouslyit was agreed between us that the unbitten onesshould immediately apply a red-hot iron to the partaffected, and then give the victim a powerful dose ofcastor oil, and leave him to repose; but I doubt ifthe complete cautery woiJd have been carried out! Before we arrived at the house Quilp had got scentof the antelope, and had departed. From this time we found ample employment for ourguns, and soon succeeded in bringing in some black-tailed deer. Hares were in abundance close to thehouse, whilst in the marshes wild fowl were plentiful,so that we kept our hosts larder well stored, andQuilp (who retm^ned and made himself quite at home)became quite sleek from good living. As we were always tired with our days work, andhad moreover our guns to clean, we left Quilp to doall the waltzing; and when he had enjoyed thispastime until he panted like an over-driven prize ox,he would sit down on a stool in the porch, and. throAving one leg over the other, would twang theold guitar and accompany it with a Spanish hymnto the Virgin, which, being delivered in a dismalfalsetto, bore much resemblance to the noise of awheelbarrow that requires greasing, and was aboutas musical. The small native horses of the country are re-markable for sureness of foot and great powers ofendurance; half-starved, unshod, and overv/eighted,these ponies will perform long journies at great n MOUNTAINS AND MOLEHILLS. speed, with great courage ; but, alas ! for them, in acountry where horseflesh is so cheap and riders are somerciless, the noble qualities of this animal meet noreward; and the long days journey bravely accom-plished, the vaccaro takes his saddle off the pantingbeast, and turns him off to die or not, accordingto his constitution. The Californian saddle is very rough in appear-ance, being formed simply of wood and hide, butgreat care is bestowed both on
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidmountainsmolehil00marr
