To Make Up For His Fright,
He Was Extremely Courageous When Restored By Tea And A Pipe.
'If we would follow the trail with him, he'd go right slick
in for her anyhow.
If his rifle didn't shoot plum, he'd a
bowie as 'ud rise her hide, and no mistake. He'd be darn'd
if he didn't make meat of that bar in the morning.'
CHAPTER XXV
WE were now steering by compass. Our course was nearly
north-west. This we kept, as well as the formation of the
country and the watercourses would permit. After striking
the great Shoshone, or Snake River, which eventually becomes
the Columbia, we had to follow its banks in a southerly
direction. These are often supported by basaltic columns
several hundred feet in height. Where that was the case,
though close to water, we suffered most from want of it. And
cold as were the nights - it was the middle of September -
the sun was intensely hot. Every day, every mile, we were
hoping for a change - not merely for access to the water, but
that we might again pursue our westerly course. The scenery
was sometimes very striking. The river hereabouts varies
from one hundred to nearly three hundred yards in width;
sometimes rushing through narrow gorges, sometimes descending
in continuous rapids, sometimes spread out in smooth shallow
reaches. It was for one of these that we were in search, for
only at such points was the river passable.
It was night-time when we came to one of the great falls.
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