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Show [ 243 J 66 ~lwrp fragments of rock, th.1cr ot· four <~ n d ~ight or ~en ~eet cul·?; and amon2,· these they had worked their way,_lc.nptng from ou~ wu ro\~ pomt to nnot~: e r , Jarely making a ful ·e step, aud g-Ivmg- us no oc ra~1on to d1smount. Havuw divc~ted our·elvc_, of e\·ery unucces nry encnmbrancc, we comnH'llC('d tile uscent. 'rhis rime, like experienced travell ers, we (hd 110t press onr~el~f·~. but climbed leisurely, sittill!r down so soon a· we fonnJ l~rcat~l bcgmnmgto fail. At interrals we reached places where n. nnmber of spnn~ ' gus~1eJ from the rocks, and about 1, 00 feet ~hove the I akc.s c~mc to tl~e snow I tnf'. From this point our progrc~s was !mmtcrru ptrd cl11;1l>lllg. II 1 thcrto I had worn a pair of thick moccasins, w1th soles of pnz/1echc; bur here I put on. a liaht thin pair which I had brotwht for the purpo. e, ns now the usc ol o' nr,.\.. oes became ' necessary to a furthn er adv~mce. I avm' I? d my e If o f a. sort of comb of the mountain, which stood agatn~t the wall lli<e a buttress, and "\vhich the winJ and the solar radin.tion, joined to the ~teepncss of the smooth Jock, had kept almost entirely free from .sno~v. Up this I mnde my wav rapidly. Our cautions method. of udvan~In <r 11~ the. ~mtsct hc.1d . spared my ~treugLh; and, with the ex~e pt10n of a sl1~ht d1..po ltJon to hcadaclJc, I ~e ! t no remains of yesterday's 1llne q. In a few mJuutes we reached a pomt \vhere the bnttrc s was overhanging, and there wns no othnr way of surn1ountill0' the di1Ticnlty than by pa ·sinO' nround one sicle of it, which "· a~ the face ~fa vertical precipice of ~everal01lllndred fe t. Pntting hant.ls and feet in the crevices bet ween the block~, I st~ecce.derl in getting o\·cr it, nncl when I reached the top, fmn~d my c~mp~m10ns m. a ~mall valley below. Descending to thelll, we continued clllnumg-, and 111 n short time reached the crest. I sprang upon the sun11nit, and another ~tep would hnse precipitated me into an immense snow fi ld five hundred feet below. To the edge of this field was a "hecr icy precipice; and then . with a (rrac.lnal fall, thc'"'tield sloped off for about a mile, until it t:itruck the foot of another lower ridge. I stood on a uarrow· crest, about three feet in width, \vith an inclination of about 20° N. 51 ° g, As oon as I had gr:.ltJfieu the first feelings of curio:3ity 1 Jesccndcd, and each nmn ascended in his turn, for I would only allow one at a time to mount the unstable nnd vrecarious slnb, which it seemed a breath would hurl into the j;).by~s below. \Ve mounted the bnromet r in the snow of the summit, and fixing n ramrod in a crevice, unfurled the national flag to wave in 1he breeu wlwre ne\·er ftng waved before. During our moming ascent we hnd met 110 si2,·n of animal life except the small ~pnrrow.like uird already mentioned. A stilln~;s:e the most profound and n terrible solitude forced themselves con .. f.tnntly ou the mind as the great features of the place. Here on the suml! 1it, where the stillness was absolute, unbroken by any sound, and the sol rtudc complrtc, we thought ourselves beyond the region of animated life: lJut while we were sitting- on the rock a solitary bee ( b1·mnus, tltc lwmblt• bre) came winging his flight from the eastern valley, and lit on tlJC knee of one of the men. It wa a strange place, the icy rock and the highest peak of the RockJi ~1ountain:-;, for n. lover of warm sunshine and flower~ ant.l we pleased our~ e:v~s with t~c idea. that he wns the first of his species 'to cross tlw moun~airl barner, a sol1tary p1oneer to fortcll the ndrance of civilization. I believe that a moment'o thought would have made us let. him continue his way unltanncd, but \:a.·e carried out the law of this countr)' where all animated na- '• ure ~ccm3 at war; nnd sciziu<T him immediately ' put him in at least a f.it J>face, in the leave3 O( a large book among the flo~\·ers we hnd collected <.Hl 67 [ 243] "Vttr wny. The baromct r stood at 1 ..... 293. T he attached th c:rrnomcter a: 44° cri~~ inrr for the elevation of thi ' sun unit !::~ ,570 feet nbovc the Gulf of Me~i~o, \~..,hid1 may ue called the highest flight of the bee. It is certainly tl1e lti~rhest known fli1rht of that insect. Fron1 the description given by Mackenzie of the mountains where he rro:-;secl them, with that of a Frendt ·otJic r still further to the north, and Colonel Long's measurements to th f' south, joined to the opinion of the oldest trndcrs of th~ country, it is pre. sumcd that this is the ltigl1est peak of the Horky .Mounrum . The day ~ra~ sunny and uright, but a slight slliniug mist hung o\· 'r the lower pln1?::;, whid1 intrrfcrrd with our view of the sunounding conntry. On one s1de we overlooked innumcmule lakes and streams, th' ~ rring of the ('olorado of the Gulf of California; and on the otlter was the \Vind Rircr valley, where ,\·rrc rh · hend of theY cllowstonc hr:mch of the Mis ouri; far to the north we ju~t. could discon·r the .nowy hf'nds of the i'rois 1'etrms, where were the sourcrs of the l\lis ouri and <.Jolumhia riv<'r. ; and at the ~outlwrn extremily of the riJo·c t!te pe<1ks w re plai11ly \ i ·ible i.\ltlOIJ~ which were some. of tlte sprincrs of the Ncbmskn or Platte ri\·rr. Arotmd us the whole scent> 'had one m ~~in striking fcnturc , which wns that. of terrible convulsion. l'a ~ mile! to its length : the ridge wns ~plit iuto chasms anJ fis~urcs ; betwe ·n which rose the thin lofty walls, terminated with ·lender minnrers and column ·, which is correctly repn'seut din the view fro111 the culllp on bland htkc. A.r. COruing to the hnrometcr, the little Crt.'S( of the wall ll which Wt~ SIOOd was t)trt'f' thousand five hundred nnd ~cvrnty feet abO\'C that place, and two thousand seren hnntlred and eighty abo\·e the little Iukes at tl1e bollom, inltll ediately a l our feet. Our camp at. the 'fwo Hills (an astrouornica1 station) bore sou ln 3° cast.., whit;h, widt a bearing afterward obtained from a fix ed position, en abled us to locate the peale The uearing of the 1lr(}is 'l'etons was north 50° west, and tlte direction of the ceutrn.l ridge of the Wind River mountain...; south 39° east. The sunlJllil rock was gnei 's, succeeded by flyeniric gneis..'. Syenite and feldspar succeeded jn our de. cent to the snow l1ne, where Wt' found a fcld~pathic gmni1e. I had remarked tllnt the noise produced by the explosion of our pistols had the usuul de<Tree of loudn 69, but was not in tiH' Ienst prolorqed, expiring nln10st instanraneou ·ly. Having now made what observations our means afforded, we proceeded to de.sceud. We hnd accomplished an object of laudable urn bit iou, and he yond the strict order of our instructions. \V c had climbed the lofrie ·t penk of the Rocky ~lomunins, and Jookcd down upon the ~now a thoueand fe-et belo\v, and standing where never humnn foot had stood uefore, felt the exultation of first explore r~. 1t wns about 2 o'clock when we left the sumrnit, and wltrn we re=tchcd the l)ottom the sun had already sunk brhind the wall, <lllU the day wns drawing to a close. It would have been pleasant to have lingered here nnd on the summit longer, but we hurried away as rapidly us rhe ground won!d permit, for it wns an object to regain our party as soon as possible, not knowing what accident the next hour might bring forth. 'Ve reacheu our deposit of provisions at nightfnll. l:Iere was not the inn ·which awaits the tired traveller on his return from 1\lont Blanc, or tht' •orange groves of South America, with their refreshing juices and soft fragran t nir; hut we found om little cache of dried meat and coffee undisturbeu. 1,hough the moon wns bright, the rond wns fnU of precipices, and the fatigue ·of the clny had h('en great. 'Ve therefore abandoned the idea of rejoining our friends, a1HI lny down on the rock, and, in spite of the cold, slepr soundly . August l t.J. - \Ve left our encampment with the daylight. 'Ve saw q_n |