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Show [ 243] 68 onr way l argo fl oC ks Of the mount~' in rront lookinr-=r- . down on1 u . fro1·n 1 .t hed: clifi'· At the crack of a rifle they would bonud oft among t 1c 10c ,s, .tn · ~ · t ... tn·,lrc tl1e'11· i'l})pearauce on some loft\f p ... ak, some hundred 111 a 1ew mmu s ,, " •. ; . . . .· . or a t }1 on. <. l.llt1 JtC' C t ,tt bove • ll 1s ne•·dles. s to attempt any flllthCl description 1 · . · . t• h l tllc }>o1·t1 ' 011 over whtch we truvelled t 11s motnlllg wa.s 0 t e conn ry ; l . . r l rou<rh as imarrinatian could picture it, and to us ·c.emeJ qnally )~autl u . A c~ncoursc ~f lakes and rw;;hing waters, rnonntmns of rock~. t~ak •d and destitute of vc•rctahle earth, tlc\1~ nnd ravit~cs or ~he n1ost. cxqm~Jte bcan~y, all kept green and fresh by the ~rent motstnrc Ill the a1r, and sown .'~ll~l brilliant flowers, and every wher thrown around all the glory ~fmos~ m.tgmficcnt scenes; thc~c constitute the features of the pl~cc , an.d nnp; :-;s, t_hcmselves vividly on the mind of the t .rnv<·llt~ r. lt wn!' .not until ~1 o. ~~~,cl~ that we reached the place where our amm~1L had l>e~n \cit , w.hcn ~vc first u~tcmptcd the monntains on foot. Ncar one of the still burmng fnc~ we f~1~11d a · f t \Tt]Jlecc o mea , \v 11·clt o•\ 1r· f1·iencls hll \d thrown awav• , nud w·h trh fnr ntshcd d us a monthfld- a very scanty breakfast. \Vc cotJtlllned d1rc tly on, an reached onr cnmp on the mountain lake .nt t~usk. \Ve fou11d all well. Nothinrr had occnrrcd to iutcrrupt the qn1et ~11\CC our departure, nt~d the fine crr~s "nd crood cool water had done much to re·establrsh our anrllwls. All lward wit!~ oTcat delight the order to tun~ our facr\hom~\vard; and toward sundowu of the 17th, we encamped acra111 at the 1 wo hutle::>. ln the course of this aftcmoon's march , the bnr~m 't ~· ·wa.s broken past remedy. I rcgtcttcd it, n l.wns de · i~·ou. t? compare 1~ ngrun wrth.Dr. l•JtJO"cl~ 1nau' barometer, nt f)t,l ~our :-;, t.o wluch mmc were rc(crrcd; but 1t had done- Hs part well, and my obj •cts were mnin\~ fulfill )d. . ..... . August J 9.- 'vV e I ('ft on r camp on Ltt tie 'a.ndy nver abo~l ~ 1 r.r~ th~ morning, and traversl'd the same sandy tw~ulatmg- co~11~try. ~he an wns filled with the turp ntine cent of till: vnnou art~m ·lsws, wlllch nrc now in bloom, aud numerous as they arc, gtvc much gatety ~o .the ~nndscapc of the plaius. At 10 o'clock, we stood exactly on the drvalc 111 the pnss, where the wncron road crossrs, and descending in1mediatcly upon the wcct '\Vater halted to take a meridian ouservation of the snn. The latitude was 42° 24' ' 32''. In the cour e of the afternoon we aw buffalo again, and at our evening halt on 1he Sweet \Vater, tlJC roasted ribs ngain mndc their appearance around the fires, and with them, good hnn1or and lnnght r, ilnd song wcr~ resrored to the camp. Onr coflce had bern expended, but we now made a kind of tea from tltc roots of the wild cherry tree. Auo·ust 23.- Ye tcrdny evening- we reached our encampment at Rock Indcp;:,endence, where I took some astronomical obscrvatio.ns. Ilcrc, not unmindful of the cu tom of curly trnvell rs nud explorers Ill our country, I encrr~vcd on this rock of the Far \Vest a symbol of the Christian f~uth. Amoncr the thickly inscribed names, I made on the hard g-ranite the im· pressi~1 o!' a larO'C cross, which l covered with a black preparation of lndi(li rubber, well cal~ulated to resist the influence of wind and rain. It stands amidst the names of many who have long since found their way to th~ grave, and for whom the huge rock is a giant grave stone. One GcoriYe Weymouth wns sent ont to Maine by the Earl of South• ampton, Lord Arundel, and others; and in the uarrative of their discoveries, he says: "The n ~xt day, we a~cended in our pinnace, that part of .thoriver which lies more to the we twnrd, cnrrving \Vith us a eros ·-a tlnug 11cver omitted by any Christian trnvellcr-wliich\vc erc·cted at the ultimate 69 [ 243] .nd of onr route.'' rrhi · wn.· in the year 1 G05, and in 18<12, I obey d the feeling of carl y travcll r", aud left tlic imT?rcs ion of the cros.s ~e~pJ )~ en· ~raved. on the vast rock one thou and twl s beyond the Mrss1ssrpp1, to \vhich discoverer · have O'iven rhc national uamc of /lock lnr!epcndeucc. In obedience to mv iustructions to survey the river Platte, if possible, I lmd det ermined to m~tkc an attempt at. this place. Tl~e JnJia rubber boat 'vas filled with nir, placr.d in the water, uud loaded w11h what wa ncccs·. . ary for our operation ; and I embarked with Mr. Preuss nud a party o( 1ncrL VVhcrt we had drn crcred our l>ont for a mile or two over the sands, l .abandoned the impo .. sibl;bnndcrtaking, alld wait d for the arrivnl o( the party, when we packed up our I! at all(l cq uipah'e, .and at U o'clock were .~1gain moving along- on ou r land JOtHney. \Vc <.:O t~llll llC~I along the valley .on the ri <rht bank of the Sweet \Vater where tlw formatio n, as already de- scribed, ~c onsists of a Q:rayi h micaceo' us sa11d ton , antl fH. IC·<rnu. ne d . COil-glomerate, aud marl. '"\'\''c pass dover a rid <rc wllich bor~ers or c?ustllu.tcs the river hills of the PlitttC, consii::ltiug of huge blocl<. s1xty or c1ghty feet cube of decomposing granite. The cem nt whicllun1tcd them .was prol>a: bly of en. icr decomposition, and has disappeared aud )eft th ~ I sol ate, ana scparared by small spaces. Numerous horns of' the monntam goat were lvincr amono- the rocks and in the ravines were cednr whose truuks were . M b ' I of extraordinary size. From this ridge we descended to a sn~all open r.mtt nt the mouth or tile Sweet \Vater, which rushed with a rnp1d current Into the Platte, here flowing along in a broad, trnuqn il, and apparetttly deep tJCam, which seemed, from its turbid appcnrnncc to be cousid 'rauly swollen. l obtained here some astronomical ob~crvation~, and the afternoon was spent in getting- our boat ready for navigation the 11cxt day. Augu~t 24.-Wc started before snnri ·c, int ndin cr to b.rcukfast at Goat island. 1 had directed the lund pnrty, in charge of Bermer, to proceed to this place, where they were to remain, should they find no note to apprise them of our having passed. In the event of receiving this iuformation, they were to continue their route, passing by certain places which had been de ignatcd. Mr. Prcu s accontpanied me, and with u were five of my best men, viz., C. Lambert, Basil Lajeunes ~c, llonon~ Ayot, Uenoi t, and Descoteaux. Here appeared 110 scarcity of water, und we took on board, with various iustrumcnts and baggage, provisions fort n or twelve days. We paddled down the river rnpidly, for our little craft was light as a duck on the water, and the sun had been some time risen, when we heard before ns a hollow roar, which we supposed to be that of a full of which 've had heard a vague rumor, but whose exact locality no one hnd been able to describe to us. VVe were appronclling a ridg-e, through which tlle ri vcr passes by a place called "cai10n' (pronounced /:an yon), a Spanish 'vord, si~nifying a piece of artillery, the bttrrcl of a gun, or any kind of .tube; and which, in this country, has been adopted to describe the passage of a river between perpendicular rocks of great height, which frequently approach cacb other so closely overhead as to form a kind of tunnel over the stream, which foams along below, half-choked up by fallen fragments. Between the month of the Sweet \Y atcr and Goat island, there is probably a fall of three hundred fc('t , nnd that was principally made in the c~f10ns before us; as without thern, the water was comparatively smooth. As we neared the ridge, the river made a sndden turn, anu swept squarely <.lawn against on of the walls of the cnf10n willt a great velocity anu so steep ~descent, that it had to the eye the appearance of an inclined plane. |