Nathaniel had continued leading his trading party north on the trail along the edge of the mountains. They traded cows and supplies as they went. Everywhere they went, men wanted meat and other supplies. Caleb was beginning to understand the full nature of the gold fields. Nathaniel had convinced Caleb they should charge ten ounces of gold per steer. Caleb had been against it at first, thinking it was too much, but everywhere they traveled, they sold cows and other food at prices beyond what seemed reasonable to charge, just as Lu had predicted. Gold seemed plentiful to some of the hardworking placer miners. Other groups would go together and pool their resources in order to get supplies and then split them up.