The Pass itself is
many miles broad, undulating on the surface, but not
abruptly. The peaks of the Wind River Chain, immediately to
the north, are covered with snow; and as we gradually got
into the misty atmosphere we felt the cold severely. The
lariats - made of raw hide - became rods of ice; and the poor
animals, whose backs were masses of festering raws, suffered
terribly from exposure. It was interesting to come upon
proofs of the 'divide' within a mile of the most elevated
point in the pass. From the Hudson to this spot, all waters
had flowed eastward; now suddenly every little rivulet was
making for the Pacific.
The descent is as gradual as the rise. On the first day of
it we lost two animals, a mule and Samson's spare horse. The
latter, never equal to the heavy weight of its owner, could
go no further; and the dreadful state of the mule's back
rendered packing a brutality. Morris and Potter, who passed
us a few days later, told us they had seen the horse dead,
and partially eaten by wolves; the mule they had shot to put
it out of its misery.
In due course we reached Fort Hall, a trading post of the
Hudson's Bay Company, some 200 miles to the north-west of the
South Pass.
