340 



FRfiMONT, JOHN CHARLES. 



this evening. The disorder of the masses which sur- 

 rounded us the little hole through which we saw the 

 stars overhead the dark pines where we slept and 

 the rocks lit up with the glow of our fires, made a 

 night picture ot very wild beauty. 



13th. The morning was bright and pleasant, just 

 cool enough to make exercise agreeable, and we soon 

 entered the defile I had seen the preceding day. It 

 was smoothly carpeted with soft grass, and scattered 

 over with groups of flowers, of which yellow was the 

 predominant color. Sometimes we were forced, by 

 an occasional difficult pa^s, to pick our way on a nar- 

 row ledge along the side ot the defile, and the mules 

 were frequently on their knees ; but these obstruc- 

 tions were rare, and we journeyed on in the sweet 

 morning air, delighted at our good fortune in having 

 found such a beautiful entrance to the mountains. 

 This road continued for about three miles, when we 

 suddenly reached its termination in one of the grand 

 views winch, at every turn, meet the traveler in the 

 magnificent region. Here the defile up which we 

 had traveled opened out into a small lawn, where, in 

 a little lake, the stream had its source. 



There were some fine asters in bloom, but all the 

 flowering plants appeared to seek the shelter of the 

 rocks, and to be of lower growth than below, as if 

 they loved the warmth of the soil, and kept out of 

 the way of the winds. Immediately at our feet a 

 precipitous descent led to a confusion of defiles, and 

 before us rose the mountains, as we have represented 

 them in the annexed view. It is not by the splendor 

 of far-off views, which have lent such a glory to the 

 Alps, that these impress the mind ; but by a gigantic 

 disorder of enormous masses, and a savage sublimity 

 of naked rock, in wonderful contrast with innumera- 

 ble green spots of a rich floral beauty, shut up in 

 their stern recesses. Their wildness seems suited to 

 the character of the people who inhabit the country. 



I determined to leave our animals here, and make 

 the rest of our way on foot. The peak appeared so 

 near that there was no doubt of our returning before 

 night ; and a few men were left in charge of the 

 mules, with our provisions and blankets. We took 

 with us nothing but our arms and instruments, and, 

 as the day had become warm, the greater part left 

 our coats. Having made an early dinner, we started 

 again. We were soon involved in the most ragged 

 precipices, nearingthe central chain very slowly, and 

 rising but little. The first ridge hid a succession of 

 others ; and when, with great fatigue and difficulty, 

 we had climbed up 500 feet, it was but to make an 

 equal descent on the other side ; all these intervening 

 places were filled with small deep lakes which met 

 the eye in every direction, descending from one level 

 to another, sometimes under bridges formed by huge 

 fragments of granite, beneath which was heard the roar 

 of the water. These constantly obstructed our path, 

 forcing us to make long detours ; frequently obliged 

 to retrace our steps, and frequently falling among the 

 rocks. Maxwell was precipitated toward the face of a 

 precipice, and saved himself from going over by 

 throwing himself flat on the ground. We clambered 

 on, always expecting with every ridge that we crossed 

 to reach the foot of the peaks, and always disap- 

 pointed, until about four o'clock when, pretty well 

 worn out, we reached the shore of a little lake in 

 which was a rocky island. We remained here a short 

 time to rest, and continued on around the lake, which 

 had in some places a beach of white sand, and in oth- 

 ers wua bound with rocks, over which the way was 

 difficult and dangerous, as the water from innumera- 

 ble springs made them very slippery. 



By the time we had reached the further side of the 

 lake, we found ourselves all exceedingly fatigued, 

 and, much to the satisfaction of the whole party, we 

 encamped. The spot we had chosen was a broad flat 

 rock, in some measure protected from the winds by 

 the surrounding crags, and the trunks of fallen pine's 

 afforded us blight fires. Near by was a foaming tor- 

 rent, which tumbled into the little lake about one 

 hundred and fifty feet below us, and* which, by way 



of distinction, we have called Island lake. We 

 had reached the upper limit of the piny region : 

 as, above this point, no tree was to be "seen, and 

 patches of snow lay everywhere around us on the 

 cold sides of the rocks. The flora of the region we 

 had traversed since leaving our mules was extremely 

 rich, and, among the characteristic plants, the scarlet 

 flowers of the Uodecatheon dentatum everywhere met 

 the eye in great abundance. A small green ravine, 

 on the edge of which we were encamped, was filled 

 with a profusion of alpine plants in brilliant bloom. 

 From barometrical observations made during our 

 three days' sojourn at this place its elevation above 

 the Gulf of Mexico is 10.000 feet. During the day we 

 had seen no sign of animal life ; but among the rocks 

 here we heard what was supposed to be the bleat of a 

 young goat, which we searched for with hungry ac- 

 tivity, and found to proceed from a small animal of a 

 gray color, with short ears and no tail probably the 

 Siberian squirrel. We saw a considerable number of 

 them, and, with the exception of a small bird like a 

 sparrow, it is the only inhabitant of this elevated 

 part of the mountains. On our return we saw, be- 

 low this lake, large flocks of the mountain goat. We 

 had nothing to eat to-night. Lajeunesse, with sev- 

 eral others, took their guns and sallied out in search 

 of a goat; but returned unsuccessful. At sunset the 

 barometer stood at 20-522 ; the attached thermometer 

 50". Here we had the misfortune to break our ther- 

 mometer, having now only that attached to the ba- 

 rometer. I was taken ill shortly after we had en- 

 camped, and continued so until late in the night, with 

 violent headache and vomiting. This was probably 

 caused by the excessive fatigue I had undergone and 

 want of food, and perhaps, also, in some measure, by 

 the rarity of the air. The night was cold, as a vio- 

 lent gale from the north had sprung up at sunset, 

 which entirely blew away the heat of the fires. The 

 cold, and our granite bed*, had not been favorable to 

 sleep, and we were glad to see the face of the sun in 

 the morning. Not being delayed by .any prepara- 

 tion for breakfast, we set out immediately. 



On every side, as we advanced, was heard the roar 

 of waters,and of a torrent, which we followed up a short 

 distance, until it expanded into a lake about one mile 

 in length. On the northern side of the lake was a bank 

 of ice, or rather of snow covered with a crust ofice. Car- 

 son had been our guide into the mountains, and, agree- 

 ably to his advice, we left this little valley, and took 

 to the ridges again, which we found extremely bro- 

 ken, and where we were again involved among preci- 

 pices. Here were ice fields ; among which we were 

 all dispersed, seeking each the best path to ascend the 

 peak. Mr. Preuss attempted to walk along the upper 

 edge of one of these fields, which sloped away at an 

 angle of about twenty degrees ; but his feet slipped 

 from under him, and he went plunging down the 

 plain. A few hundred feet below, at the bottom, 

 were some fragments of sharp rock, on which he 

 landed ; and, though he turned a couple of somer- 

 saults he fortunately received no injury. 



Two of the men, Clement Lambert and Descotcaux, 

 had been taken ill, and lay down^ on the rocks, a 

 short distance below ; and at this point I was attacked 

 with headache and giddiness, accompanied by vomit- 

 ing, as on the day before. Finding myself unable to 

 proceed, [ sent the barometer over to Mr. Preuss, 

 who was in a gap 200 or 300 yards distant, desiring 

 him to reach the peak if possible, and take an ob- 

 servation there. He found himself unable to proceed 

 further in that direction, and took an observation, 

 where the barometer stood at 19 - 401 : attached ther- 

 mometer 50, in the gap. Carson, who had gone over 

 to him, succeeded in reaching one of the snowy sum- 

 mits of the main ridge, whence he saw the peak to- 

 ward which all our efforts had been directed, tower- 

 ing 800 or 1,000 feet into the air above him. In the 

 mean time, finding myself grow rather worse than bet- 

 ter, and doubtful how far my strength would carry 

 me, I sent Basil Lajeunesse, with four men, back 

 to the place where the mules had been left. 



