They knew not that they were entering upon the desert plains-- those vast arid steppes that slope up to the foots of the Rocky Mountains--the Cordilleras of the Northern Andes.
Francois, rash and impetuous, never dreamt of danger: Basil, courageous, did not fear it: Lucien had some misgivings, because he had heard or read more of it than the others.

All, however, were curious to visit the strange, mound-looking eminence _that_ rose out of the plain.

This was quite natural.

Even the rude savage and the matter-of-fact trapper often diverge from their course, impelled by a similar curiosity.
The horses were watered and saddled; Jeanette was packed; the water-gourds were filled; and our adventurers, having mounted, rode forward for the "butte.".