The Cruise of a Schooner

The narrative recounts a first-person overland expedition that begins on the Pacific coast and proceeds eastward in a wagon, crossing deserts, canyons, plateaus, and mountain ranges. It combines practical travel details—equipment, camps, routes—and episodic sketches of places encountered, from desert encampments and railroad waypoints to river valleys and high passes. Vivid landscape description and portraits of daily camp life accompany the gradual shrinking of the traveling party into solitude, producing a measured account of perseverance, improvisation, and the challenges of long-distance overland travel.