The next morning I went to the pond of water, and found the oxen had been watered there.

They stirred up the mud a good deal and had drank off about all the clean part, which seemed to refresh them very much.

I found the people in the camp on the edge of the lake I had seen from the mountain, and fortunately it contained about a quarter of an inch of water.

They had dug some holes here, which filled up, and they were using this water in the camp.
The ambitious mountain-climbers of our party had by this, time, abandoned that sort of work, and I was left alone to look about and try to ascertain the character of the road they were to follow.

It was a great deal to do to look out for food for the oxen and for water for the camp, and besides all this it was plain there were Indians about even if we did not see them.