The
green meadows which border these mountain streams are generally well
stocked with game, and the hunters killed several fat elks, which
supplied the camp with fresh meat. In the evening the travellers were
surprised by an unwelcome visit from several Crows belonging to a
different band from that which they recently left, and who said their
camp was among the mountains. The consciousness of being environed by
such dangerous neighbors, and of being still within the range of Rose
and his fellow ruffians, obliged the party to be continually on the
alert, and to maintain weary vigils throughout the night, lest they
should be robbed of their horses.
On the third of September, finding that the mountain still stretched
onwards, presenting a continued barrier, they endeavored to force a
passage to the westward, but soon became entangled among rocks and
precipices which set all their efforts at defiance. The mountain seemed,
for the most part, rugged, bare, and sterile; yet here and there it was
clothed with pines, and with shrubs and flowering plants, some of which
were in bloom. In tolling among these weary places, their thirst became
excessive, for no water was to be met with. Numbers of the men wandered
off into rocky dells and ravines in hopes of finding some brook or
fountain; some of whom lost their way and did not rejoin the main party.
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