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Show [ 174 ] 164 the valley, the weather .being ~cry cold, and the rain coming ir. hard g.u.sts, which the wind blew darectly m. our fa~es .. We forded the PortncuJ 1n a storm of rain the water in the nvcr be1no· frequently up to the axles, and about 110 yar'ds wide. Aft~r the gusl, the weather ir~JH·oved a little, nnd we encamped about three miles below, at the moulh of lhe PannaC'k river, on Lewis'!) fork, which here has a breadth ?f about 120 yar~ls. The temperature at sunset was 42°; the sky partwlly covered Wllh dark, rainy clouds. September 23.-Th~ tcmpera~ur·c at f;t.mrisc .was 3~0 ,; the moming dark, and snow falling steuully and tlllckly, wtth a lwht au· from the southward. Profited of being obliged to remain in ~amp, to take hourly barometrical observations from sunrise to midnight. The wiud at eleven o'clock sctin from the northward in heavy gns1 ~, and the now chan•r<'d into rain. In the afternoon, when the sky brightened, the rain had wasl·1ed all tho snow fiom the bottoms; but the nei~hboring mountains, from summit to foot, were luminously\\ hite-an inauspicious eommcnccment of the autumn of which this was the first day. September 2·1.-Thc thermometer at sunrise was at 35°, and a blnc sky in the west promisPd a fine day. The river bottoms here arc narrow and swampy, with frequent sloughs; and after erossin~ the Pannack, the l'oad continued along the uplands, rendered \'ery slippery by the soil of wet clay, and entirely eovercd with arlemi~ia bu~hes, among which occnr frequent fragments of obsidian. At noon we encamped in a grove of willows, at the uppct end of a group of i~lands, about haifa mile above the .llmericanfalls of Snake river. Amo11g the willo\v::~ here, were some bushes of Lewis and Clarke's currant, ( ribes aureu.m.) The river here enter between low mu· ral banks, which consist of a fine vesicular trap rock, the intermcui:lte por· tions being compact rHHl crystalline. Gradually becoming higher in its downward course, these banks of sroriated volcanic rock form, with occa· sio nal intenuptions, its characteristic feature ~llon<r the whole line to the Jhllcs or tile Lo\\·cr Columbia, rr::;cmblin~ a chasn~ "hich had been rent through the country, and which the river had af'tcrwards taken for itshed. The immcdi..ttc valley of the rt\'Cr is a hiCJ'h plain, covered with black roeks and ar tcmisias. ln the south is a bordgrino· range of mountains, which, although not ,·cry high, are broken and cove7ed with snow · and at a great distanc~ to. th~! nortl~ is .seen the high, snowy line of th~ S~1lmon river ~noun b 1ns, Jfl front of wlllch stand out prominently in the plalll the three Isolated ru~gcd-looking little mountnins commonly known as /he Tltr~c !Juttcs. Between tl1e river and the distan t Salmon river range, the p~alll JS represented l!y l\1r. Fitzpatrick as so cntil'ely broken up and rent IIllO chasms as to be till practicable for a man even on fooL 1 n the sketch annexed, the point o~ view is low, but it conveys very well:;omc idea of tbc open character of the country, '"ith the buttL'~ risit1g out above the generall111e. By r~ea~urem~nt, the! river above is870fcet wide, immediately coutractcc.lat the iallm. the ~onn of a lock, by juttin~ piles of scoriaceous basalt, over which ~1,1 e foamu~g nvcr must present a grand uppcarancc at the time of high water. 1 he evenmg was cl<'ar and plca::;ant, with dew ; and at sunset the temper~· turc was 54~. By observation, the latitude is 42° 47' 05'' and the longJ· tude 1 12o '10.' 13" ·. A few hu nd rt:d y ard8 below the falls,' aud ou tl~c left bank. of the nver, IS the cscarpnlClJt from which were taken the spccllnens that 10 the appendix arc nutubercll !J.1., 96, 97,101, 102, lOG, aud.I07. September 25.-Thermometer at sunrise 4 7 c:>. The day came 111 clear, . ... .... . . . . ~ ~ 0 r,y C/') H ~ ~ H r,y 0 ~ tl) , H '• H 4! . r,y z < () H ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ D:l ~ |
