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Show [ 243] 40 in lnrgc wooden bowls, one of which was hmrdrd to cuch. Thr f1 ~h appenrrd very glutino11s, with sonrethiug of the flnvor mrd apprara11ce of mutton. Feelillg sornethitJ<r move brlliud Ill<', 1 koJ.: cd ronlld a11d found that I had taken my sent nmong a litter of fat young puppies. H<1d I been nice in such mntter~, tlw prejudices of civilization wight hare iutcderrd with my tranquility; but fortunately, I am uot of delicate nerves, and continued quietly to e111pty my platter. 'rhe weather was cloudy at evening, with a moderate south wind, nJJd the thr.rmometer at G o'clock 5°. 1 was di.-nppointcd in illY hope of obtnining an observation of an occnltntion, which took place about nJidnight. rrhe moon bronght with her heavy banks of clouds, through which she scarcely made her nppenrance during the night. The mon1ing of the 18th was cloudy and cnlm, the th rmomefer at G o'clock at 64°. About 9, with a nwdrrate wind from the west, a 3lonn of rain came on, accompanied 'by harp thundrr nnd lightuiug-, which lastrd about an hour. During the day the exp<'ctrd villnac nrrivcd, collsistinoprincipalJy of old men, women, and childreu. Th;y hnd a con~idrrabl~ t 1mbrr of lwrscs, and large troop· of dogs. 'rhcir lodges wc1e pitched nPar the fort, and our can1p was constautly crowded with lndians of nil sizes, fr01n morning until uight; at which tunc some of the oldi<'rs generally car.nc to drive them all on· to the village. My tent wa the only place wlnch they respected. Here only came the chief and m n of di '~ tinction, and gen rally one of them remained to drive away the women and children.. The numerous strange iustrum nts npp1ied to still stran·· ger u~es cx~Itcd awe and ndmirntion among them, aud those which I used m talklllg with the . un nnd tars they 1oohed upon with P.speciaL rcverenct\, ns mysterious things oi "g-reat m ~rlirine." Of the thr<'e haromet{' r which I had ur011ght with me thus far succe. fully , 1 found tl1at two we:_ :mt of order: and spent the greater pnrt of the 10111 in repairincr them a.n operatior~ of uo sma ll dilliculty in the lllidst of the ince::;saut interrnp~ t1ons to winch I was u hjected. W c had the mi forrune to t1rca k here a large tl~ermometer, grnduatecl to how fifths of a drg-rrr, which lu ed ~o ascerttun the tet~lpcwtu.re of boiling w<tter, and with which I had promlsed myself some ultercstmg exprrin1ents in the mountains. vVe hnd but on.e remaining on which the graduation extcudrd snllicieutly high , m1d th1s was too ·nwll_for cx~ct obser\'utions. During onr stlly here the men l1ad he?n eugnge~ 111 mnlong nmnerous rcpnirs, nrnmg·iug puck-snddle8, and othcr~J . e prcpan.ng for the chances of a rough rond and motllltain travel. All ~hmg·s of thrs nature being rei.1dy, l gathcrC'Cf tiler~ arotllld me ill the ;venmg, ancl told them that ''I had clcterm in<>d to proc('ed the next clay. fh~y were all well armed. I had eu~ucrcu the ~ervices of l\lr. Bi, onctte as mterprcter, and taken, in the circnm~tnnccs, rvery pos ible IIJCatlS to cusure onr afety. Tn the rumors we lwei heard I believed there W<IS nlllch exaggeration, and then they we1e men accustonwd to this kind of life and ~o the country; and. that these. were tile ditngcrs of ev<'ry day occurr )11ce ,. <lll~.to he expected 111 the ~r~mary course of their service. rrhey had ?e~nd of the unsettled cond1t1o~1 of the country hdore l eavjn~ ~t. J Jouis, ~m~l therefore c?n.ld not mnke. Jl a rPuson for brc"king tlrcir en~ngemeots. tlll I Wtt8 nnwllllng to take With mr. 011 a f.:<'rvice of ~omc certui11 dn11gcr mrn on whom I con ld not rely; and us I hitd nnderst ood that th ere W<.'rc anwng thCilJ some who W<'rc u1~posed to cow:.ndire. :~nd anxious to ret urn ~ tht'y had but to come forward ~lt OtlCC and Sti.lte th t'i I' desiJe, auu tJ1ey \\ Ollld I , I \ ( 41 [ 243 J be discharrrcd with the amount due to them for the time they hnd ·erved.'' 'l'o their honor be it said, there was but one amoug them who Jwd .the face to come forward. and avail himself of the pcrmi ·. ion. I asked lllm son1e few questions in order to expose him to the riuicule of tile lllen, a11~ let him cro. 'ehe day after our dernrture he engaged himself to on? of the fort s, 0 and set off with a party for the Upper Mis~ouri. 1 did. uot th111k. that the sitnntion of the conutry justified me in f<tking onr yotlllg compauJou::;, .lVIessrs. Brant nnd llcnton, along with us. ln ·ase of misfortuue, 1t would have been thought, at the lea, t, an net of' great imprudence; aud tl1 crefore, thono·h reluctantly 1 determined to J<>nve th em. HandoiJ)h had been the ::-- ' life of the camp, and tbe ".Petit garcou" wns nmch rcgrdted hy the m 'll, to whom his bouyant ~pirits llad aflorded great a111U .'<'m nt. 'l 'lwy all, how~ ever atrrecd in the propriety of Jeavi no· him at the fort, becam'c1 iiS they said ' heb micrht cost the lives of some of1 :"'t he 111en in a fi rrht w1• th t1 1 c l n< ]w' n~. 1 h d . July 21.- A portion of our baggi1gc, with ott r field-not<· · a11 ob crvatwus, and. evend instnunents were lcfl at the fort. One of tlte gcut lt' nlen, Mr. Galpin, took charge of a 'bnromctcr, which he engaged to ob ·erve du rin~. my absence, and l entrusted to Randol ph, by way or occu patton , the rc.<ru l ar wwd~ lllg up of two of my chronometers, which were an~ong th ' !n ' trum nts left. Our observations show d that the chronomet r wh1ch 1 retmncd for the continuation of our voyn<re had preserve<1 its rate in a most ~atisfactury nHu mer. A deunccd frorn it, the lou<ritnde of F ort Laran1ie is 7ft. 01 ' 21 ", and fron1 lunar distance 7h. OL' 20'', giving for the adoptrd I 11gitude 105° ~l' 1~)''. Comparing the baron10trical observations made clnring our ~~ay here w1th those of Dr. G. Engelman at St. 1 ~oni ~, we find for tLe elcvnt10n of the fo rt above the nnlf of ~.Mexico -1,t170 feet. The wi111er climate hrrr. is remarkably mild for the latitude; but rainy weather is fre() t•ent, and the plac? is r,elcbratcu for winds, of which the prcvailitlg' one is west. An enst w1.ud in summer aud a south wind in wiutcr is said to be always aecompa.tncd with rain. \V c were ready to epart; the teufs were strnck, the mules gea re~ up, aud onr horses smldled, and we walked up to the fort to take the sttrntp cup with on r friends in an exc~llent home-brewed prcparat ion. Whi lc thns pleasantly en~aged, seated in one of the little cool ch~mhcrs, at the do~H of wllirlt n man hnd been stationed to prevent all intrusiOn from the lud 1an~, n. number of chiefs, several of them powerful fine-lool(ing- men, forced their way into the room in spite of all oppositiou. !landing me the follow~ iHg letter, they took their scats in si lence : "FonT PLATTE,.lulyl, 142. "J\rl rt. FREMONT: Les chefs s,ctant as~cmbles presentemcnt me di cnt <.le vons avertir <lc nc point vous mcl tre en route, avant que ]e parti de jennes (Yens qni est en dehors soient de rctonr. Doplns ils me di ~e nt ()tl'ils sont ~trf >s certain qn'i ls feron't ~ u, a Ia pr micro rcncont re. I Is d ~~.1 v~nt c. trc d. e retour UallS sept a llllit jOllfS · exeusez si jc VOUS fai!:; CeS OhSPrvatwns, UWIS 11 me semble qn'il est mon devoir devons avertir dn di.i ng·cr. Memc de plus, lcs chefs sout lcs porteurs de ce 'billet, qui vous d.cfendent de parti1 avaut le retour des g-uerricrs. Jc snis votrc ob't servt' r, "JOSEPIT Bl ~ ONT~TTP,, "Par L. B. CIIARTRAlN.n |