Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/135

TENTH. In the year fifteen forty -one The prairies of Kansas begun. And no place under the sun Excels her for freedom won. Twas the west, now the best; Her soil, Oil, Stand (ard), the test. If you wish to know the rest Come, and God you will hless. HE CARAVAN was in the last stage of exhaustion when it arrived at the valley of the Arkansas, not so much on account of the lack of food as because of the eternal track- ^A less plain, and the constant travel which became very monotonous, and the non discovery ■of anything worth while. Being from home so long a time it appeared to the men that it was a hopeless undertaking. "When an individual or expedition arrives at such a condition of mind, then God help them, for they cannot help themselves. So several days before arriving at the river, whispered consul- tations were frequently held, the burden of which was principally to express doubt about the veracity