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Show • [ 243] 48 camped a few miles above. A. trouomical ouscrvntions placed ns in Ion rri. tude I (J(jO o;~' 40'', and latitude 1!2° :3~)' 25''. tl \Vc r.nnde the next day twenty-two mile , and cnc;;trnpcd on tiH~ ri <Tht ~~.11!~ o(, ~~~~ . ~>la~t.~, where a . hand~ome llll'.adow nllorded tolerably ggod :-.l,ls~. 1 hlre were the rcn~tuus of an old fort here thrown np in ~o mc ~uduer.1 emcrn·cnc., and ou the oppo itc side was a pictnr<·sque bln/1' of fcrrngrno11s !:iand ·touc. 'L'herc was a har1d.sonw grove a lirtlc abov<' and scattcrc~i group of trors horu('red the riv r. Bn(Ji.tlo n1ade th ei r ~11;pearaucc ~111 n~t~~·noon , and the !mnt ~rs came in. shortly after we hnd rncamped, wr~h three_ fine cow . 1 he nrg-ht was lme, and ob~crvations trave for the latitude or the camp, ~2o 47' ,H)''. b .Tal!! ~5.-,\~e made but tl1irr '~n miles thi day, and encamped about JlOOil Ill ~ pit a. .. wt arove on the rr crht bank. Low scaflold$ were ercct<'d Hpon winch the meat. was la.iu, cut up into thin trips, and srnall fires kin~ ~lied below. On1: ~bJeCt was to profit by the vici11ity of the buWdo to lay 111 a stock of provi::siorrs for ten or liftecn <.lay . In tltc course of rh~ aftcrnoo~ 1, rhe huntcr:s brougl~t in nve or six cows, nud all harHls were kc t ~)ustly cmploxed Ill pr~~panng tl1e meat, to tire drying of which the gua~l ,tttcuded d~n:tn.g tl;c rwrht. Onr ~1copl? had recovered tlreir crnicty, and t.lte busy fig11res ~~round t!le bln:r.llJrr ftrc gave a picture que air to the camp. A very scnous accJdcllt occu rrcd thi' mornino-, in the brcakinrr of or~e of th' baroructe1: · 'rite had b<·cn t l1e object of mv constant soDcitn ·d~, and, as I had tntcndcd_ them p~incipally f()r mount.:\in servic , I had n. e them a~. ~eltl,om as po s~blc; t.:llung them ahvays down ar uight, and 7ll the .OCCllllt nee Of storm , Ill order to lcssrn the chances of ueiug .broken. , w_as red~uced _to one, a srnndnr~ baron.1Ctcr, of Trough ton'· construction. . rhl I dciCIITilllCd to preserve, rf possibl<'. The latitude is 420 5L' :~511, ,tdnd by a mcl~n of th.e ':esnlts from cllronolllctcr, and lunar distance~=\ the n opt d 9 l?ngr;11<lc of t.lus ran~ p is 1 OGO 2.)' 1 0''. ' ~ JU:y ---6.-. ~~rly thts monllrlg- we were ngain in motion. We had a ~/,7~JI <~f PtOVIsJon for fiftc<'n days, cnrcfnlly stored away in the cart~, nnd t . le . 0 ved S~lOI,lld only he cncro.:lCIIc~ upon when onr riile should fail , 0 pro_curc us };rcscn_t . upport. I determr~wd to r<'ach the rnountains, if it 1~~~e, 111 nny '' :1Y posstblc. ln th? meantrntc uuflido were plenty. In six 1) .· ~sd fMrom Otll encampment, winch, by way of distinction we ·hn.Jl call Jt Iirse w ~11e a·t cam1.•) ' wecro. · ed·~l h·lr11 't··· 11 11 '~ · ... t < omc' .1 ct~m, ca cc .,~rz l 'ourche llmsee. d c 1tllnbcred, and t.tmong the flowers lll bloom ou it.s bank · I rcnnr,c· t' 1'evera asters. , l ' . It•l~i v lmdi Irs ~furr her we made our noon halt, on the hanks of the Phtte I n le s la e o some cotto 1 \VO d '1,1 t ' . 1 . . 1 o s. 1crc were here ns <renerall y llO\V ;t1~01 ng- tire nvfer, tlucl~cts of !tippopllrtrl·, the 4'1'ains de or~'uf of ... the country 1cy were o two ktnds · one b . · . 1 b · · tirt of N! . II . ' Cilltrw tl r c erry, (the slteplwrdia m·[!ell.- ln.ll"e 1~.tt.dt '(~ thle other a ycllo,v berry, of which the Tartars arc said to ' '- a \.lll o ro >. I B: a. lllCl'i~lian Ob~crvation, the latitude of the place WU~ 490 t";t)l 0 '1 t w.ts my dally practice to t I 1 · ' ""' 0 · and wl! the a l • a<~ 0 Jservat_rons of the ~nu's meridian altitutlt•, we rcacbeu J,er~n~~~~1fv?1l) ~~dl ~J:p~ar 111 t1 1 ' ~cquel. Eight nrilcs f11rthcr .ubundauce of rich err· , o ecr crc~k, where we encamp d. llerc wa .. an t ions 'I., I . . o .tss, and o~u anJJunls were compensated for past pri va- . . lls st~earn was a.t tlu . t . t . with cotton wood of · s uno. \\'etlty ~oct broad, a11J wrll ti rube red J.>Jatto 1Jetwec11 the 1~~u~lnc~mlmoSr~ size. It 1s the lar<Te~t tributary of tho l o t 10 wcct \Vater nud the Laramie. Our ns· I 49 [ 243] tronornical observations gave for the mouth of the steam a longitude of 10()0 43' LG", and latitude 1~0 52' 21". . July 27.-Nothing worthy or mention occurrrd on_ th1s dny; we trnvcl.l <..l later lhan usunl havitvr ·pent sornc time in senrchmcr for orass, crO$ mg nnd reclossin rr tl1e rive~ before we could find a su1licient (11111n tity for our nuimnls. 'l\~vard dnsk, we ctrcnmped nmoug some artemisia bush c~, two und lhree feet in height, where some scattered pat ·lies of Hho rt tongh grass nffiJrdeJ a scanty sn ppl y. In crossing, we had occasion to observe, that tl~c river was fr ·qu ently too deep to be forded, though w , alway~ sttccee~ed lll :fiudiucr a place where the water did not cuter the carts. The ~trcam continued very clear, with two or three hurtdred f·et breadth of wain, and the sandy bed and banks were frcqucutly covered with large ronnd jH!bhl ·s. 'vVc l~a<.J traveJIPd this day twenty-seven tuilcs. The main elwin o~ tltc Blnck ~Jtlls were here only about seven tlli lcs to the sontlt, on the n~llt hank of the rjver, rising abruptly to ti ll~ hcigth of' eight nnd tw<'lvc hundred feet. Pntche~. of (rret·n crras. iu tho ravin e:-; on tl1e steep sitlcs, marked the presence of spr~1gs, nitd the snum1 it~ were clad with pines. July 28.-Ln two miles f'rorn our encampmen t wen nchccl tl1c place where 1he rcrrular road crossr's the Plaltc. There was two h11ndn•d f<'PI. brenJth of wa7er at this tim(~ itt tltc bed, which hns n variable width ot' eight to flftccn hunJred lect. 'l'ltc channel:; were generally thr<'~ f(·pt d<'ep, a11d there were larrrP. arwular rock::> 011 the bottom, which made tiH· ftnd in !:iOllle places ~ I"> n little diflicnlt. Evcu at i1s low ·tages this river c:m uot be cro~scd at random, and this ltns always be<'n w.-cd. ns the best fi1rd. '1'11<' low ~taw· _of the waters the present year had made it fordable in allllost any part of H~ conrsc, where access cou ld be had to its bed. . . l•"'or the satisfaction or travellers, I will endeavor to Q'IVC ~OiliC tlescnption of the nature of the roacJ frotu Larnmic to thi.s point. The Jllltnrc of the soil may be inferred from its gcologicnlf(nmation. The. limc.st?ne. nt the eastern limit of thi~ !'Ctitin, is SIIC<.:ceded by linH'~tone w1rlwur tossrls, a great vnriety of an:lsrortc co11sistill0' principally of n:d sand!'tone a~HI fine <.:onglomcratcs. 'l,he red sn11dstotiO i · nrgillnl'cou~, wrrll compact wlntP gypsum or nlaba. ~cr, very he~uttifttl. 'I' he oth~r, sand.storH·S nr'. ~rrn.y ,. yellow, nud ferrugmons, sotll<!tltlH'.S very coarse. ll1e appnn:nr :-.tenl11y ot. the country HHlSL therf'f(>re be sowrht for in other can~e~ tl1nn rile ll atnre o{ the soil. Tltc faec of the country can not with propri 'ty he <:ailed b illy. H is a succession oC loner rid o·t'!' nt1.ule by the nnmcrnns ·~rrrnnts wltich :-, ,..., ' come down from lhc nci<rhborino· mountain range. Tlw ridgt~s h:n·c an M . li11duJatin~ Stlrfnce, with ~Ollle ::>Ul!h GfpCarance as tlte or illl Jll'l'!-1 ' Ill ' Ill lUI ordillary breeze . 'rhc road which is now ~en rally followed throu g-h this rrg-io11 is, thrr - fore, a very good one, witltout nny Liif!ioult ascents to OV<'r<·unw. The principal ob~trnctions arc llear the river, where the 1 ra llSH'nl wntc r:3 of h eavy rains have made deep ravines with steep banks, which n•rHl 'rs frrqnrnt circuits necessary. 1t will be reulCmucred that wagons p;tSd lh is roild only once or twice a year, which is by no menus snfllcieut to bn'ak down thn stubborn roots of the inn u mcrahlc artemisia hnshes. A ra rtial absence o[ lhcSC is often the only iudication of ~ h e track, and the ron glJtH~ss prodnCCU or their routs iu nta11y places a;ivcs the road the character of onu nuwl y oprnf'd in a wooded conlllry. Tl1is is Hsnally eonsiderPd the won.;t parl of tho road cast of the mountains, an<l as it passes through an open pruitlc rl'giou 4 |