At One Place, They Were Obliged To Slide Their Horses
Down The Face Of A Rock, In Which Attempt Some Of The Poor
Animals Lost Their Footing, Rolled To The Bottom, And Came Near
Being Dashed To Pieces.
In the afternoon of the second day, the travellers attained one
of the elevated valleys locked up in this singular bed of
mountains.
Here were two bright and beautiful little lakes, set
like mirrors in the midst of stern and rocky heights, and
surrounded by grassy meadows, inexpressibly refreshing to the
eye. These probably were among the sources of those mighty
streams which take their rise among these mountains, and wander
hundreds of miles through the plains.
In the green pastures bordering upon these lakes, the travellers
halted to repose, and to give their weary horses time to crop the
sweet and tender herbage. They had now ascended to a great height
above the level of the plains, yet they beheld huge crags of
granite piled one upon another, and beetling like battlements far
above them. While two of the men remained in the camp with the
horses, Captain Bonneville, accompanied by the other men [man],
set out to climb a neighboring height, hoping to gain a
commanding prospect, and discern some practicable route through
this stupendous labyrinth. After much toil, he reached the summit
of a lofty cliff, but it was only to behold gigantic peaks rising
all around, and towering far into the snowy regions of the
atmosphere. Selecting one which appeared to be the highest, he
crossed a narrow intervening valley, and began to scale it.
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