He had a shotgun, which he had brought from England, and which had been a great blessing to him and his family, for he was a good shot, and often had a mess of sage-hens or rabbits for his family.

I took the gun from his cart, put a bundle on the end of it, placed it on his shoulder, and started him out with his little boy, twelve years old.

His wife and two daughters, older than the boy, took the cart along finely after reaching the summit.
"We travelled along with the ox-team and overtook others, all so laden with the sick and helpless that they moved very slowly.

The oxen had almost given out.

Some of our folks with carts went ahead of the team, for where the roads were good they could out-travel oxen; but we constantly overtook stragglers, some with carts, some without, who had been unable to keep pace with the body of the company.