The
Travellers, Though Hungry In The Extreme, Were Fain To Make A
Very Frugal Supper; For They Saw Their Journey Was Likely To Be
Prolonged Much Beyond The Anticipated Term.
In fact, on the following day they discerned that, although
already at a great elevation, they were only as yet upon the
shoulder of the mountain.
It proved to be a great sierra, or
ridge, of immense height, running parallel to the course of the
river, swelling by degrees to lofty peaks, but the outline gashed
by deep and precipitous ravines. This, in fact, was a part of the
chain of Blue Mountains, in which the first adventurers to
Astoria experienced such hardships.
We will not pretend to accompany the travellers step by step in
this tremendous mountain scramble, into which they had
unconsciously betrayed themselves. Day after day did their toil
continue; peak after peak had they to traverse, struggling with
difficulties and hardships known only to the mountain trapper. As
their course lay north, they had to ascend the southern faces of
the heights, where the sun had melted the snow, so as to render
the ascent wet and slippery, and to keep both men and horses
continually on the strain; while on the northern sides, the snow
lay in such heavy masses, that it was necessary to beat a track
down which the horses might be led. Every now and then, also,
their way was impeded by tall and numerous pines, some of which
had fallen, and lay in every direction.
In the midst of these toils and hardships, their provisions gave
out. For three days they were without food, and so reduced that
they could scarcely drag themselves along. At length one of the
mules, being about to give out from fatigue and famine, they
hastened to dispatch him. Husbanding this miserable supply, they
dried the flesh, and for three days subsisted upon the nutriment
extracted from the bones. As to the meat, it was packed and
preserved as long as they could do without it, not knowing how
long they might remain bewildered in these desolate regions.
One of the men was now dispatched ahead, to reconnoitre the
country, and to discover, if possible, some more practicable
route. In the meantime, the rest of the party moved on slowly.
After a lapse of three days, the scout rejoined them. He informed
them that Snake River ran immediately below the sierra or
mountainous ridge, upon which they were travelling; that it was
free from precipices, and was at no great distance from them in a
direct line; but that it would be impossible for them to reach it
without making a weary circuit. Their only course would be to
cross the mountain ridge to the left.
Up this mountain, therefore, the weary travellers directed their
steps; and the ascent, in their present weak and exhausted state,
was one of the severest parts of this most painful journey. For
two days were they toiling slowly from cliff to cliff, beating at
every step a path through the snow for their faltering horses. At
length they reached the summit, where the snow was blown off; but
in descending on the opposite side, they were often plunging
through deep drifts, piled in the hollows and ravines.
Their provisions were now exhausted, and they and their horses
almost ready to give out with fatigue and hunger; when one
afternoon, just as the sun was sinking behind a blue line of
distant mountain, they came to the brow of a height from which
they beheld the smooth valley of the Immahah stretched out in
smiling verdure below them.
The sight inspired almost a frenzy of delight. Roused to new
ardor, they forgot, for a time, their fatigues, and hurried down
the mountain, dragging their jaded horses after them, and
sometimes compelling them to slide a distance of thirty or forty
feet at a time. At length they reached the banks of the Immahah.
The young grass was just beginning to sprout, and the whole
valley wore an aspect of softness, verdure, and repose,
heightened by the contrast of the frightful region from which
they had just descended. To add to their joy, they observed
Indian trails along the margin of the stream, and other signs,
which gave them reason to believe that there was an encampment of
the Lower Nez Perces in the neighborhood, as it was within the
accustomed range of that pacific and hospitable tribe.
The prospect of a supply of food stimulated them to new exertion,
and they continued on as fast as the enfeebled state of
themselves and their steeds would permit. At length, one of the
men, more exhausted than the rest, threw himself upon the grass,
and declared he could go no further. It was in vain to attempt to
rouse him; his spirit had given out, and his replies only showed
the dogged apathy of despair. His companions, therefore, encamped
on the spot, kindled a blazing fire, and searched about for roots
with which to strengthen and revive him. They all then made a
starveling repast; but gathering round the fire, talked over past
dangers and troubles, soothed themselves with the persuasion that
all were now at an end, and went to sleep with the comforting
hope that the morrow would bring them into plentiful quarters.
31.
Progress in the valley An Indian cavalier The captain falls into
a lethargy A Nez Perce patriarch Hospitable treatment The bald
head Bargaining Value of an old plaid cloak The family horse
The cost of an Indian present
A TRANQUIL NIGHT'S REST had sufficiently restored the broken down
traveller to enable him to resume his wayfaring, and all hands
set forward on the Indian trail. With all their eagerness to
arrive within reach of succor, such was their feeble and
emaciated condition, that they advanced but slowly. Nor is it a
matter of surprise that they should almost have lost heart, as
well as strength. It was now (the 16th of February) fifty-three
days that they had been travelling in the midst of winter,
exposed to all kinds of privations and hardships:
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