Here, With A
Spy-Glass, He Reconnoitred The Surrounding Country, But Not A
Lodge Nor Fire, Not A Man, Horse,
Nor dog, was to be discovered;
in short, the smoke which had caused such alarm proved to be the
vapor
From several warm, or rather hot springs of considerable
magnitude, pouring forth streams in every direction over a bottom
of white clay. One of the springs was about twenty-five yards in
diameter, and so deep that the water was of a bright green color.
They were now advancing diagonally upon the chain of Wind River
Mountains, which lay between them and Green River valley. To
coast round their southern points would be a wide circuit;
whereas, could they force their way through them, they might
proceed in a straight line. The mountains were lofty, with snowy
peaks and cragged sides; it was hoped, however, that some
practicable defile might be found. They attempted, accordingly,
to penetrate the mountains by following up one of the branches of
the Popo Agie, but soon found themselves in the midst of
stupendous crags and precipices that barred all progress.
Retracing their steps, and falling back upon the river, they
consulted where to make another attempt. They were too close
beneath the mountains to scan them generally, but they now
recollected having noticed, from the plain, a beautiful slope
rising, at an angle of about thirty degrees, and apparently
without any break, until it reached the snowy region. Seeking
this gentle acclivity, they began to ascend it with alacrity,
trusting to find at the top one of those elevated plains which
prevail among the Rocky Mountains. The slope was covered with
coarse gravel, interspersed with plates of freestone. They
attained the summit with some toil, but found, instead of a
level, or rather undulating plain, that they were on the brink of
a deep and precipitous ravine, from the bottom of which rose a
second slope, similar to the one they had just ascended. Down
into this profound ravine they made their way by a rugged path,
or rather fissure of the rocks, and then labored up the second
slope. They gained the summit only to find themselves on another
ravine, and now perceived that this vast mountain, which had
presented such a sloping and even side to the distant beholder on
the plain, was shagged by frightful precipices, and seamed with
longitudinal chasms, deep and dangerous.
In one of these wild dells they passed the night, and slept
soundly and sweetly after their fatigues. Two days more of
arduous climbing and scrambling only served to admit them into
the heart of this mountainous and awful solitude; where
difficulties increased as they proceeded. Sometimes they
scrambled from rock to rock, up the bed of some mountain stream,
dashing its bright way down to the plains; sometimes they availed
themselves of the paths made by the deer and the mountain sheep,
which, however, often took them to the brinks of fearful
precipices, or led to rugged defiles, impassable for their
horses.
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