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Show [ 174 J 212 and put a temporary check to their sly operations; but it did not occur ag~~~- road this morning lay down ~ level vall~y, bordere? ?Y steep mo~n-t. ·nous rid(Y'es risin« very abruptly from the plam. Artemtsta was the pnn. caitp al plannt, m' ingle1:d:) wt• th Fremonh• a an d _t I1 e c I1 en?po d"t aceou~ sh _ rubs. The artemisia was here extremely large, betng sometimes a foot m dtameter and eight feet high. Riding quietly along over the sno_w, we came suddenly upon smokes rising among these bushes; and, gallopmg up, we found two huts, open at the top, and loosely built of sa~e, which appeared to have been deserted at the instant; and, looking hastily around, we saw several Indians on the crest of the rid(Y'c ncar by, and several others scrambling up the side. We had come upon them so s~ddenly, that _the~ had be~n wellnigh surprised in their lodges. A _sage fire wa~ burnt ng m the m.tddl~; a few basl cts made of straw were lytng about, wtth one or two rabbit skms; ' and there wns a little O"r:l ss scattered about, on which they had been lying. "Tabibo-bo !" they ~houtcd from the hills-a word whirh, in the Snake hnrrua(rc ignifies white-and remained lookinf; at u~ from behind the r<o cbk . b C, arson and Godcy rode towards the h1. 1l, b ut t l1 e men ran of f l"tk e deer. They had been so much pressed, that a woman with two ch~ldren had dropped behind a sage bush ncar the lodge, and wh_en ~arson acctde~tally stumbled upon her, she immediately began screamwg m the extrem1ty of fear, and shut her eyes fast, to avoid seeing him. She w~s b!·ough_t back to the lodrre, and we endeavored in vain to open a communiCatiOn wtth the men. B/ dint of presents, and friendly demonstrations, she w_as brought to calmness· and we found that they belonged to tbe Snake natwn, speak· ing the lang'uagc of that people. · Eight or ten appeared to live to~elh~ under the same little shelter; and they seemed to have no other sub~1ste~'! than the roots or seeds they might have stored up, and the hares whiCh h\'e in the sarrc and which they are enabled to track throngh the snow, and are t') ) • very skilful in killinrr. Their skins afrord them a little scanty covenng. Herding lof!:ether an~ong bu hes, and crouching almost naked over .a little sage fire, usir1g their instinct only to procure food, these may ?e constde~ed, among human being~, the nearest approach to the mere ammal ~reatwn. We have reason to believe that these had never before seen the face of a white man. The day had been pleasant, but about two o'clock it began to blo_w i and crossing a slight dividing ground we encamped on the shclte.red stde of a hill, where there was good !Junch grass, having made a day's JOurney of 24 miles. The night closed in, threatening snow ; but the large sage bushes made bright fires. December 29.-The morning mild and at 4 o'clock it commenced snol~· 1· 0g. We took our way across a plain' thickly covered wt·t h snow, t 0 wa' rus .a ran~e of hills in tbc southeast. The ,s ky soon bcc~me so dar 1{ WI' th sn owh ' tbat little could be seen of the surroundincr country; and we reached t e summit of the hills in a heavy snow sto~m. On the side we had ap· proachcd, this had appeared to be only a ridge of low hills; and we w.ere surprised to find ourselves on the summit of a bed of broken mou~Jrws, which, as far as the weather would permit us to sec, declined rapt Y t~ some low country ahead presenting a dreary and savabrre character; an J~"O r a moment I looked ar' ound in doubt on the wild and t.n hospt·t a bl e pros· pect, scarcely knowing what road to take which might c.onduct us td 80£: place of shelter for the night. Noticing among the hills the he a 0 213 [ 174 J grassy hollow, I determined to follow it, in the hope that it would conduct us to a stream. We followed a winding descent for severed miles, the hollow gradually broadening into litlle meadows, and becoming the bed of a stream as we advanced ; and towards night we were agreeably surprised b~ the appearance of a willow grove, where we found a sheltered camp, wtth water and excellent and abundant grass. The grass, which was covered by the snow on the bottom, was long and green, and the face of the mountain had a more favorable character in its vegetation, beincr smoother and covered with good bunch grass. The snow was deep, an~ the nigh ~ v~ry colcL A broad trail had entered the valley from the right, and a short distance below the Cf*mp \vere the tracks where a considerable party of Indians ?ad pas~ed on hors~back, who had turned out to the left, apparently wtth the view of crossmg the mountains to the eastward. December 30.-After following the stream for a few hours in a southeaste_ rly direction, it entered a calion where we cou ld not follow; but dctcrmmed ~ot .to leave the stream, we searched a passage below, where we could regam It, and entered a regular narrow valley. The water had now mor~ the appearance of a flowing creek; several times we passed groves of ~~llow.s, and we began to feel ourselves out of all difficulty. From our posttwn, rt was reasonable to conclude that this stream would find its outlet in ~ary's lake, and conduct us into a better country. We had descended raptdly, and here we found very little snow. On both sides, the mountains showed often stupendous and curious-looking rocks, which at several places so ~arrowed the valley, that scarcely a pass was left for the camp. It was a ngular place to travel through-shut up in the earth a sort of chasm t. little strip of grass under our feet, the rough wall; of bare rock o~ etther hand, and the narrow strip of sky above. The grass to-night was abundant, and we encamped in high spirits. December 31.-After an hour's ride this morning, our hopes were once ~lOre destro1cd. The valley opened out, and before us again lay one of he. dry basms. After some search, we di covered a high-water outlet, ~htcb brought us in a few miles, and by a descent of several hundred feet, mto .another long broad basin, in which we found the bed of a stream, and obtarncd sufficient ·water by cutting the ice. The grass on the bottoms was salt and unpalatable. ~Jere we concluded the year 1843, and our new year's eve was rather cao gu notormy y one.· The result of our J·ourncy berran to be very uncertain· the 1 n . ' f was smgu arly unfavorable to travel; the grasses berng frequently 0 woran veryd unwholesome character ' and the hoofs of our animals were so an cut by the rocks, that many of them ·were lame, and could sc~cely be got along. look~to Year's df!.IJ, 1844.-Wc continued down the valley, between a dry- . h tng black ndge on the left and a more snowy and high one on the ~~g t. Our road was bad along the bottom, being broken by gullies and Impeded by sage, and sandy ou the hills, where there is not a blade of ~~as~, nor does any appear on the mountains. The soil in many places th nststs of a fine powdery sand, covered with a sali nc efllorescence; and re e lg~ner al character of the country is desert. During the day we dismco~ e ?ur. course towards a black cape, at the foot of which a column of Indrcated hot springs. January 0) w . . by f 11. ""·- c were on the road early, the face oJ the country h1dden a tng snow. We travelled along the bed of the stream, in some places • |
