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Show .. [ 174 ] 176 the usual order or distribnt~on of good a~1d bad soil is often .reversed; the ra· ver an d CJ. c el{ 'u· ottoms• bernOe-'- often stenl•€ , a•n d df n r kern ed. w1th the gloomy 1 '-' anu.1 ba rren 'ti·temisia · nhile the mountatn 1s o ten 1ed1 e, a11d covered < • ' 1 1 d 1 w1·t h r. · t ··1ss pleasant to the eye, aud good for f oc {S an lords. 1C1l gr' , ·• . · I · · 1 h r 1 · Leaving entirely the Sna.ke nver, wh1 1 c ~ IH satC. bn 1 cctort 1 ~o. pursuhe tts course lhl·ou,or h c··1 iions ' amtdst r.o cky .a n( un· pra1c t1ca c moulu td:u ns1, w ere there is no possibility of travcll.mg w1th .a~.u.ua s,. we ascctH e a ~ng and Vll"t steep hill· and crosstng the dJVIOll1g ndge, came down mto the svoamlleey\ ofu JJm·nt rive' r, which here lo~lk~ l1'k . e a I1 ?l ~ among. t. IH ~ h'1l l s.. 'l'1l1 e average breadth of the stream !1c.re JS 30 feet; ~tIS well fr:mged With the usual small timber; and the soil Ill the bottoms IS ~oou, With better grass than we had lately been accustomed to see .. W c now travelled through a very mounta10ous cou.ntr y; .thr stream running rather in a raviuc than a valley, and the r?ad IS decidedly bad and dangerous for single wagons, frequently rross111g. the stream w.here t~e water is sometimes deep; and all the day the anrmals were f:.•trgued tn climbing up and descending a SlH'cessio~l of s~eep ascents, to avord the pr~cipitous bill sides; and th~ comm?n tratl, wh1ch .leads al.ong the mountam side at places where the nver stnkcs the base, IS sometuncs bad even for a horseman. The mountains along this day's journey ~vcre co~n.posed, near the river, of a slaty calcareous rock in ~ metarhor~lac condJtlon .. It ap· pears originally to ha\'e been ~slaty sechmentary lunestone, but tts ~res· ent condition indicates that it has been altered, and has become partrally c·rystallinc-probably from the proximity of volcanic rocks. ~ut thon~h travellincr was slow and fdLiguinCT to the animals, we were deltghted With the appe~rance of the country, '~·hich was green an.d rc frcshing after ~ur tedious journey down the parched valley of Snake nver. Th.e mountams v.ere covered with good bunch grass, (festuca;) the water of t?e strc~ms was cold and pure; their bottoms were handsomely wood.e<~ '' 1th vano.us kinds of trees; and huge and lofty and picturesque preCijHccs were diS· pl;tyed where the river cut throngll the mountains. W c found in the evening some good grnss and rushes; and encamped among large timber, principally hirch, which had been recently burnt and blackened, and almost destroyed by fire. The night was calm and tolerably clear, with the thermometer at sunset at 59°. Our journey to-day was about 20 miles. . October 14.-Thc day was clear and calm, with a temperature ~t sunnse of 4Go. After travelling about three miles up the valley, we lound t~Je river shut up by precipices in a kind of calion, and the road makes. a ctr· cuit over the mountains. In the afternoon we reached the ri vcr agam, h? another little ravine· and after tra\'ellincr alon<r it for a few miles, left it ' ' 0 ~::~ I n enclosed a1~10ng rude mountains; and, ascending a smaller branc \ ~~~ camped on 1t about 5 o'clock, very much elevated above the valley. 1 view was every, .. here limited by mountains, on which were no longer sec~ the bla~k anu ban en rocks, but a fertile soil, with excellent grass, a~ partly well covered ·with pine. I have never seen a wagon road cqua Y bad in the same space, as this of yesterday and to-day. I noticed wh~~ one wag01.1 .had been ovc1 turned twice, in a vc.ry short distance; an 1~ was surpnsmg to me tb!t those wagons which were in the rear~ and coud. not have had much assistance, got through at all. Still, there IS no mr J ~md the roC~d has one advantage, in being perfectly firm. The day 13 been warm and very pleasant, and the night was perfectly clear. . 177 [ 174 ] October 15.-The thermometer at daylight wa.s 42°, and at .sunrise .4?0 ; clonds, which were scatrerrcd over all the .sky, disappeared with th~ ~is.mg sun. The trail did JJOt much improve untJI we had. crosse~ the dJv1d1~1g grounds between the Brule (Burnt) and Powder nvcr.s. fhe rock diS· plaved on the mouutain~, as we approached the summit, wrts a compact tra{~, tlccomposing 011 tllC c.xposed surfaces, a1~d apparently an al t~rcd argillaeeous sandstoue, contammg small crystalline nodules of an.olcimt'), apparently filling cavities. originally .existmg . . Fro~ the sum~nt !Jere, the whole horizon shows ~u g h mouutaws ; no high pla111 or level IS to b~ "een; and on the left, from south around by the west to north, the tnouutams are black with pines; while, through tbe rcmaiuillg pa~e to the east.warJ) they arc bald with the except ion of some scat tercd pmes. Yon w1ll remark that we arc now ent ering a region wl1crc all tit~ ~l~vated parts are covered with douse anu heavy forests. Fron1 the UlVldtng groutHJs we dcscentlcd by a moUiitain road to Powder river, on all old bed of which we encamped. Desccudiug from tlte summit, we cnjoyeu a pictL~re .. ;qnc view of high rocky tnontHaius on the right, illlllninatcd by the sctttllg sun. .F'rotll the heights we had looked in vain for a well-known laudmnrk on Pnwuer river, which had b~en described to me by .1.\Ir. Payette as i'arbre seul, (the loue tree;) aud, ou arriviug at the 1~iver, \VC fonncl a. fiuc t~ll pine stretched on the grou11d, which had Leon icl lcd uy some JncousH.leratc emigrant axe. It I ~ad beC'n a beacon on tlw road for rnany years past. Our Cayuse ' had become impaticut to reach their ho1nes, and travelled on ahead to.day; and this afternoon we were visited by cveral IJJdia.ns, who belonged to the tribe on tl1e Columbia. They were on hor~cback, and were ont 011 a hunting excur iou, but had obtained no better game than a large gray hare, of wl1ich P.ach had some six or seven hanging to his saddle. We were ab~o visited by an Iudian who had his lodge aud family in the mountain to tltc lcfr. Jlc was in want of ammunition, and brot1ght with him a beaver skin to exchange, and which he val ned at six charges of powder and ball. I learned from hitn that there arc very few of these animals remaining in this part of the country. .The temperature at snnsct was Gl 0 , and the evening r lear. I obtaiued, With other observations, an immcrsjon and ernersion of the third satellite. Elevation 3,100 feet. Octobe1· 16.-· For several woek · the weather in the dn yt une has been very beautiful, clear, auu wann; but the nights, in comparison, arc very cold. During the night there was ice a quarter of an inch thick in the l?dge; and at daylight the thermometer wns at 1 G0 , ancl the same at sunrlse; the weather being calm and clear. 'rite annual vegetation now is nearly g~nc, almost all the plants being out of blo01n. Last mght two of our horses had run off again, 'vbich delayed ns until noon; aud we made to day but a short jonruey of 13 mile·, the road being vc;y good, and encamped in a fine bottom of Powder river .. . lhe thermometer at sunset was at (>1°, \vith an easterly wmd, and parttally clear sky; and the day bas been quite pleasaut and ·warm, though flinnoerre clodu d1y than yesterday·' anu the sun was frequently faiut, but it grew an c carer towards evening. October 17.-Thermomcter at sunrise 25°. The weather at daylight :~~fino, and the sky without a cloud ; bnt these came up, or were formed t 1 ~1 0 the sun, and at 7 \Vere thick over all the sky. Just now, tbis appears e the regular course-clear and brilliant during the night, and cloudy 12 |
