noon
It proved good footing on the sandbar , but the water in the laguna was too salty for the cattle , though the loose horses lay down and wallowed in it . We were about an hour in crossing , and on reaching the mainland met a vaquero , who directed us to a large fresh-water lake a few miles inland , where we camped for the night . It proved an ideal camp , with wood , water , and grass in abundance , and very little range stock to annoy us . We had watered the herd just before noon , and before throwing them upon the bed ground for the night , watered them a second time . We had a splendid camp-fire that night , of dry live oak logs , and after supper was over and the first guard had taken the herd , smoking and story telling were the order of the evening . The camp-fire is to all outdoor life what the evening fireside is to domestic life . After the labors of the day are over , the men gather around the fire , and the social hour of the day is spent in yarning .