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Show ,. [ 174 J 224 a scarcely perceptible ascent, forming a beautiful pass; the exploration of which we deferred until the next day, and returned to the camp. To-day an Indian passed throu~h the valley, on hi way :nto•the moun. tains, where he showed us was lus lodge. We com~rehend e ~ nothing of his language; and, though he ~pp~m·ed to have no fear, pass~ng .along in full view of the camp, he was md1~posed to hold any commumcat10n with us but showed the way he was going, and pointed for us to go on our road. 'ny observation, the latitude of this encampment was 38o 18' 01 ", and the elevation above the sea 6,310 feet. January 27 .-Leaving the camp to follow slowly, with directions to Carson to encamp at the place agreed on, 1\-fr. Fitzpatrick and myself continued the reconnoissancc. Arriving at the head of the stream, we began to enter the pass-passing occasionally through open ()'roves of large pine trees on the warm side of the defile, \vhere the snow had melted away, occa;ionally exposing a la1 ge lndian trail. Continuing along a nanow meadow, we reached in a few miles the gate of the pass, where there was a narrow strip of prairie, about fifty yards wide, between walls of grauite rock. On either side rose the mountains, forming on the left a rugged mass, or nucleus, wholly covered with deep snow, presenting a glittering and icy surface. At the time, we supposed this to be the point into which they wcr c gathrred between the two great rivers, and from which the waters flowed off to the bay. This was the icy and cold side of the pas, and the rays of the sun hardly touched the snow. On the left, the moun· tains rose into peaks; but they were lower and secondary, and the country had a some'" hat more open and lighter character. On the right were sev· eral hot spring~, which appeared remarkable in such a place. In going through, '"'e felt impressed by the majesty of the mountain, along the huge wall of which we were riding. Here there was no snow; but immedi· :1tely bcyoud was a deep bank, through which we dragged our horses with considerable effort. \Ve then immediately struck upon a stream, which gathered itself rapidly, and descended quick; and the valley did not pre· serve the open character of the other side, appearing below to form a calion. \V c there fore climbed one of the peaks on the right caving our horses below; but we were so much slmt up, that we did not obtain an extensive view, and what we saw was not very satisfactory, and awakened considerable doubt. The valley of the stream pursued a northwesterly direction , appearing below to turn sharply to the right, beyond which fur· ther view was cut off. lt was, neverthe less, resolved to continue onr road the next day down this valley, which we trusted still would prove that of th? middle stream between the two great rivers. Towards the summit of th1s peak, tllC fields of snow were four or five feet deep on the northern side; and we s~w several large hares which had on their winter color, being white as the snow around them: The winter day is short in the mountains, the sun havjng but a small space of s~y to travel over in the visible part above our horizon; and the moment h1s rays arc gone, the air is keenly cold. The interest of our work had detained us long, and it was after nightfall when we reached the camp. January 28.-To-day we went through the pass \1\'ith all the camp, and, after a hard day's journey of twch·e miles, encamped on a high point where the snow had ?een blown off: and the exposed grass affordr.d a scanty pas· ture for the ammals. Snow and broken country together made our trarel· [ 174 ] ling difficult: we were often compelled to make hu·gc rircuits, and ascend the highest and mo~t exposed rid()' s, in order to avoitl snow, which in other places was banked up to a great depth. During the day a few Jndians were RCca circling around us on sno\v shoes, and skimming along like birds; but we cou ld not brinp; them within speaking distance. Godey, who was a little di tancc fro111 tile camp, had sat down to tic his mocrasi11s, when he heard a low whi. tlo ncar, and, lookin~ up, saw two Indians hnlf hiding behind a rock oboul forty yard ~ di tant ~ they would not allo\v him to approacb, but, breaking into ~~ laup;h, ~ kimmed off over the snow, seeming to h~n·e no idea of the po" cr ol Gre arms, :1nd thinking themselves perfectly safe when beyond ann's lenp;lh. To-night we did not .. ucrced in getting the ho'"·itzc·r into ramp. This was the most laborious day we had yet pas ed throu~h ; thC' , tcPp a!"r cn ts and deep snow exhausting both men and animaL. Our .. in ~lc chr onornetcr had stopped during the duy, and its {'rror in time oC'rasion<:d the los of an eclipse of a satellite this cYening. lt had not prcsrtTcd the 1 at(' 'vith which we started from the Dalles, :1nd this will account lor tlw •~bs;<~nce of longitudes alon~ this intrrval of our journey. January 29.-From this l1cight we could sec, at a considerable di. tance below, yellow spots in the v~llPy, which indicatf"d th:tt th rrc• \\'a · not nJuch snow. One of these places we cxperted to reach to-ni~ht; and some time bein11 rey_uirrd to bring up the gun, I went ahead with I\Ir. Fitzpatr iek and a few men, l~aving the camp to follow, in rharge of! Ir. Pn::uc;s. \Vc fol lo~ cd a trail down a hollo\\ "here the Indian had descended, the now bctngso deep that we ncvf'r came n e~ r the ~round; but this only made our dcscont the easier, and, when we rearhed a little ailluent to the ri\'er at the ~J?llom, we suddenly found ourseh'e in prcscnre of ci~ht or ten Indians. .1 h~y seemed to be watching our motions, and, lil.:e tlH· oth('r ~,at f1r t wrre mdtsposed to. let us approaeh, ranging th mseh·c5 li ke bi rd . on ~l fallen log on the lull ide above our head. where, hcing out ol' H'adL they thought them~elves safe. Our friendly oC;meanor rectH I(' il<'d them, and, whc.n we got near enough they immet.l iatelJ tretcht?d out to u~ hnn dfulis of pule nuts, which seemed :111 f'xerci c of ho.' pitality. '\Y C' mrtdr them a few presents, and, telling u - that tbcir Yiilage was a few miles below, they w?nt on t.o let their people know what we were. The principal strearn st;l~ runntn~ throu~h an impr~ etieahl e e:luon, we a.'ceJHlc·d ~ \.<,JT ~t ep hilL w 1 ~ch proV('d afterwards the Ltst and fatal obGtaolc to our li tt l~ ho wit xe r , wh,ch was fina11y abandoned nt tl1is place. \\Te p~·kscd throu nl1 a small meadow a few miles belo\·V, cro~sin o· tiH' ri,·er. v;·hieh oqHh, swift runent fai nd rock d . d'fi. I . ,. 1 .' 1~a e 1t 1 I<'ll t 1o lord~ :1 nd, ~tfterufcw moJemilesofvcrydif-tcu t tratl, 1ssucd into a lar~f'\r pr. irie bottom, at the farther end of whicb we one ampc d , t·n :1 posi tion rcnden~d strong by rock and tr~' . The lower parts of the mountain were covered with the nut }>in • f-.ie \'cral JndiaJ.,s a,p pc :u·.e d on t 1lc ln·l l s1· de, reconnoitring the camp, ancl were induced• t"o"' LO\llC ln. .' otl·a~' l'S ca• rne 1. n u. I un. ng t) f } . I • 1e a tcrnoon; anc 111 tnc <'n'nm~r we held \a con,n ell · Th e 1n d t· ans J· mmNl'i atcly made it dear that the" aters "o n whiclt bve \\~t·e also belong to the Great Basin, in the <'dge of whi ch we had tl~=~~~~ncc.the 17th of December; and it became edd< nt that WC' h~Hl st ill vV at nd~e on the left to c1 oss before we could reach the Pacifi · \\ atf'rs. acros~ ~~~)latncd .t? th.r ln d i~1ns t.l at we ·were e !1 ~lca\ 01 in!! (n find a P~~'-snp.; . to mount~nns mto the <·ountry of the\\ nttcs "l10m we w ·rc ~·oin cr sec·' and told tl }e m t I} at \\ (' · 1 1 · ' -rJ ' 15 '\') !:) ) e d t }c ffi t 0 b ( Jl) U' tl !j a IT lJ ide t 0 W h 0 ll\ \ ' b b } • |