He made an unsuccessful shot or two at a deer and a
beaver; but at night found a rabbit hole, whence he extracted the
occupant, upon which, with the addition of a fish given him by
the travellers, he made a hearty supper, and retired to rest,
filled with good cheer and good humor.
The next day the travellers came to where the hills closed upon
the river, leaving here and there intervals of undulating meadow
land. The river was sheeted with ice, broken into hills at long
intervals. The Digger kept on ahead of the party, crossing and
recrossing the river in pursuit of game, until, unluckily,
encountering a brother Digger, he stole off with him, without the
ceremony of leave-taking.
Being now left to themselves, they proceeded until they came to
some Indian huts, the inhabitants of which spoke a language
totally different from any they had yet heard. One, however,
understood the Nez Perce language, and through him they made
inquiries as to their route. These Indians were extremely kind
and honest, and furnished them with a small quantity of meat; but
none of them could be induced to act as guides.
Immediately in the route of the travellers lay a high mountain,
which they ascended with some difficulty. The prospect from the
summit was grand but disheartening. Directly before them towered
the loftiest peaks of Immahah, rising far higher than the
elevated ground on which they stood: on the other hand, they were
enabled to scan the course of the river, dashing along through
deep chasms, between rocks and precipices, until lost in a
distant wilderness of mountains, which closed the savage
landscape.
They remained for a long time contemplating, with perplexed and
anxious eye, this wild congregation of mountain barriers, and
seeking to discover some practicable passage. The approach of
evening obliged them to give up the task, and to seek some
camping ground for the night. Moving briskly forward, and
plunging and tossing through a succession of deep snow-drifts,
they at length reached a valley known among trappers as the
"Grand Rond," which they found entirely free from snow.
This is a beautiful and very fertile valley, about twenty miles
long and five or six broad; a bright cold stream called the
Fourche de Glace, or Ice River, runs through it. Its sheltered
situation, embosomed in mountains, renders it good pasturaging
ground in the winter time; when the elk come down to it in great
numbers, driven out of the mountains by the snow. The Indians
then resort to it to hunt. They likewise come to it in the summer
time to dig the camash root, of which it produces immense
quantities.
