JOHN C. FREMONT. 237 



the baggage had been removed, as to the place of 

 greatest safety. While the whole company were 

 gazing silently upon the sublime spectacle which 

 was thus presented to their view, several horsemen 

 were suddenly seen approaching the spot at the top 

 of their speed and boldly riding through the tumul- 

 tuous ocean of flame. It proved to be Colonel Fre- 

 mont, his physician, and their attendant. They 

 were received with enthusiastic shouts of joy. 



The next day the journey was resumed. During 

 the night the fire had crossed the Kansas River, 

 and it was then raging along the line of their 

 further progress. The only possible escape was 

 through the blazing grass; and, as soon as the 

 animals were packed and the camp was raised, 

 Colonel Fremont mounted and dashed forward at a 

 gallop through the flames, followed by the rest of 

 the company. About a hundred feet were thua 

 rapidly traversed without any serious consequences 

 being felt from the effects of the burning grass. 



The country now to be examined comprised three- 

 fourths of the distance which intervened from the 

 Missouri frontier, at the mouth of the Kansas River, 

 to the foot of the Wahsatch Mountains, within the rim 

 of the Great Basin. The line to be pursued was be- 

 tween the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth parallels of 

 latitude. The whole extent of the route was about 



