It was like manna falling from Heaven, and as surely saved their lives as did the manna of the Bible save the lives of the tribes of Israel.

They had no reason to expect a storm of rain or snow, but came to them just as they were perishing.

A little further on they came to a small stream of water, and as the bed showed only a recent flow it must also have come from the little local storm further up the mountain.
They used this water freely, even though it was not very good, and it acted on them very much like a solution of Glanber Salts.
They decided at first that they had better follow the stream southward, but after a little time, feeling the sickness caused by the water, they saw it was no advantage and turned west again, bearing to the north toward a sort of pass they could now see in the mountains in that direction.

This stream is now known as the Amargosa, or bitter, river.
The new direction in which they marched gave them an up-hill route for thirty or forty miles, rough and barren, with no water or grass.

There was no road or trail to follow, the oxen were as weak as their owners from drinking the bitter water, and the road needed some clearing and breaking in places before the wagons could pass.