| OCR Text |
Show [ 174 J 166 have reached the point of the mountain, at a pla.ce which had been previously agreed upon. In the cour~e of our n~rrattve, we shall be able to give you some information of the fortune winch attended the movements of these at.lventurous travellers. Iltning discovered our er~·or, we immediately regained the line along the river, which the road qmtted about noon, and encamped at 5 o'clock on a strea111 called Raft river, (Riviere attx Cajeu:c,) having travelled only 13 miles. In the north, the Salmon river mountains are visible at a very far distance; and on the left, the ridge in which Raft river heads is about 20 miles distant, rocky, and tolerably high. Thermometer at sunset 44°, with a partially clouded sky, and a sharp wind from the SW. September 27.-lt was now no longer possible, as in our previousjoumey, to travel regularly every day, and find at any moment a convenient place for repose at noon or a camp at night; but the halting places were now generally fixed lllong the road, by the nature of the country, at places where, with water, there was a little scanly grass. Since leaving the American falls, the road had frequently been very bad ; the many short, steep ascents, exhausting the strength of our worn-out animals, requirin~ always at such places the assistance of the men to get up each cart, one by one ; and our progress with twelve or fo~rteen wheeled carriages, though light and made for the purpose, in such a rocky country, was extremely slow ; and I again determined to gain time by a division of the ca1np. Accordingly, to·day the parties again separated, constituted very much as before-Mr. Fitzpat· rick remaining in charge of the heavier baggage. The morning was calm and clear, with a white frost, and the tempera· ture at sunrise 24°. To-day the country had a very forbidding appearance; and, after travel· ling 20 ·~ilcs over a slightly undulating plain, we encamped at a consider· able spnng, ealled Sl\·amp creek, rising in low crrounds near the point of a s~~r from the mountnin. Returning with a sm~ll party in a starving con· dttton from. the west ward 12 or 14 years since, Carson had met here three o~ four bufla!o bulls, two of which were killed. They were among the pwneers whtch had made the experin1ent of colonizino- in the valley of the Columbia, and which had failed, as heretofore stated. 0 At sunset the thermometer was at 46°, and the evening was overcast, with a cold wind from the S~:, and to-night we had only sage for fire wood. Mingled with the artemts1a was a shrubby aud thorny chenopodiaccous plant. September 28.-Thermometer at sunrise 40°. The wiud rose early to a gale from the west, with a very cold driving rain· and after an uncorn· fortable day's ride of 25 miles, we were glad when ;t ev~ning we found a sheltered camp, where there was an abundance uf wood at some elevated rocky islands covered with cedar near the commenceme~t of another long cai\on of the river. With the e)\c~ption of a short detention at a deep little stream called Goose creek, and some occasional rorky places, we had to· day a very good ro?d; but the country has a barren appearance, sandy, and densely covered wtth the artemisias from the banks of the river to the foot of the m~untains. llere I remarked amonO' the sage bushes rrreen bunches of what ts called the. second growth of gr~ss. The river t~~day has ha? a smooth appea~·ance~ free frorn rapids, with a low, sandy hill slope bordenng tl~~ bolto~s, 111 whtch there is a little good soil. Thermometer at sunset 4a ' blowtng a gale, and disarrreeably 'Cold. September 29.-The therm~meter at sunrise 36°, with a bright sun, and 167 [ 174 ] appearance of finer weather. The road for several miles w:is extremely rocky, and consequently bad; but, entering after this a sandy country, it became very good, with no other interruption than the sngc bushes, which covered the river plain so far as the eye could reach, and, with their uniform tiut of dark gray, gave to the country a gloomy and sombre appearance. All the day the course of the river has been between walls of the black volcanic rock, a dark line of the escarpment on the opposite side pointing out its course, and sweeping along in foam at places where the mountains which border the valley present always on the left two ranges, the lower one a spur of the higher; and, on the opposite side, the Salmon river mountains are visible at a great distance. Having made 24 miles, we encamped about 5 o'clock on Rock creek-a stream having considerable water, a swift current, and wooded with willow. Se~Jtembe~ 30.-Thermotneter at sunrise 28°. In its progress towards the nver, thts creek soon enters a chasm of the volcanic rock, which in places along the wall presents a columnar appearance; and the road becomes extren~ely rocky whenever it passes near its banks. It is only about twenty feet wtde where the road cross~s it, with a deep bed and steep banks covered with rocky fragments, with willows and a little cr,'·ass on its narro~ bottom. The soil appears to be full of calcareous mattgr with which the rocks a~·e incr~sted .. The fragments of rock which had been removed by the emtgrants In makmg a road where we ascended from the bed of this creek w?re whit~ned with lime; and during the afternoon's march I remarked 10 t.he soil a considerable quantity of calcareous concretions. To· war:ds evenmg the sages· became more sparse, and the clear spaces wert occupied by tufts of g~·een grass. The river still continued its course through a troug~ or ?pen canon ; and towards sunset we followed the trail of several wagons whtch had turned iu towards Snake river, and encamped, as they ha.d done, on the top o~ the ~scarpment. There was no grass here, the ~otl among the sag~ bemg e.ntlrely naked ; but there is occasionally a little 1 ottom along .the nver, whiCh a short ravine of rocks, at rare intervals, /aves accesstble; and by one of these we drove our animals down and ound sor~e tolerably. good grass bordering the water. ' th lr~medtately oppoSlte to us, a subterranean river bursts out direetly from th! ~ce of the escarpment~ and falls.in white foam to the river below. In ~Icws a.nnexed, you wtll find, With a sketch of this rem;ukable fall a r~hp!ehserntatt~n of the mural precipices which enclose the main river a~d '\~ IC JOI'm ItS h t ' . {' ' I c arac enstiC eature along a great portion of its course A fmiree . ancholy and st 1· a nge-1o o 1u ·n g country-one of fracture, and violence, ·a nd (1 Wte had brought with us, when we separated from the camp a )·Hge oaun ox in a . . . ' c joy of tl ' • Pfea{ a nee very poor; but, bemg killed to~ night, to the great Cu 1e peop e, 1e was found to be remarkably fat. As usual at such oc llorwr emnc· es the eve · . d 1 . - 1' nwg was evote( to gayety and feashug; abundant fare as th. ace .an ~poch amon.~ us; and in this laborious life, in such a country was ~~oour .men had but lrttle else to enjoy. The temperature at sunset the e '· Wtth a clear sky and a very high wind. By the observation of tude ~~~~~g,, !~~' .encampment was in longitude 114° 25' 04", and in lati- Octobcr 1 .-Th · . . • mometcr at sr:o ~V mormng clear, with wmd from the west, and the ther-the purpose ~f ~isitine dt~sc~n~f~d tho the bot.tom, .taking with us the boat, for ~ le a m t e opposJte cltffs; and while it was beiug \ |
