I Wore My Hawaiian Riding Dress, With A Handkerchief
Tied Over My Face And The Sun-Cover Of My Umbrella Folded And
Tied Over My Hat, For The Sun Was Very Fierce.
The queerest
figure of all was the would-be guide.
With his one eye, his
gaunt, lean form, and his torn clothes, he looked more like a
strolling tinker than the honest worthy settler that he is. He
bestrode rather than rode a gaunt mule, whose tail had all been
shaven off, except a turf for a tassel at the end. Two flour bags
which leaked were tied on behind the saddle, two quilts were
under it, and my canvas bag, a battered canteen, a frying pan,
and two lariats hung from the horn. On one foot C. wore an old
high boot, into which his trouser was tucked, and on the other an
old brogue, through which his toes protruded.
We had an ascent of four hours through a ravine which gradually
opened out upon this beautiful "park," but we rode through it for
some miles before the view burst upon us. The vastness of this
range, like astronomical distances, can hardly be conceived of.
At this place, I suppose, it is not less than 250 miles wide, and
with hardly a break in its continuity, it stretches almost from
the Arctic Circle to the Straits of Magellan. From the top of
Long's Peak, within a short distance, twenty-two summits, each
above 12,000 feet in height, are visible, and the Snowy Range,
the backbone or "divide" of the continent, is seen snaking
distinctly through the wilderness of ranges, with its waters
starting for either ocean.
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