MOUNT RAINIER 



preparations the evening before. We calculated to be 

 gone about six days. Each member of the party had 

 to carry his own provisions and bedding ; everything 

 was therefore reduced to the minimum. Each took a 

 blanket, twenty-four crackers of hard bread, and 

 about two pounds of dried beef. We took Dogue (a 

 German) and Carroll (an Irishman) with us ; they 

 were both volunteers for the trip ; one carried the 

 hatchet and the other the rope. I carried a field- 

 glass, thermometer, and a large-sized revolver. Wah- 

 pow-e-ty carried his rifle, with which we hoped to 



grocure some game. The soldiers carried no arms, 

 ell and Doneheh were left behind to take care of the 

 horses and extra provisions, until our return. 



We each had a haversack for our provisions, and a 

 tin canteen for water. The doctor very unwisely filled 

 his with whisky instead of water. Having sounded 

 Wah-pow-e-ty as to the route, we learned he had 

 once been on the upper Nesqually when a boy, with 

 his father, and that his knowledge of the country was 

 very limited. We ascertained, however, that we could 

 not follow the Nesqually at first ; that there was a fall 

 in the river a short distance above the mouth of the 

 Mishawl, and that the mountains came down so 

 abrupt and precipitous that we could not follow the 

 stream, and that the mountain must be crossed first 

 and a descent made to the river above the fall. 



That mountain proved a severer task than we 

 anticipated. There was no path and no open country 

 only a dense forest, obstructed with undergrowth 

 and fallen timber. The sun was very hot when it 

 could reach us through the foliage ; not a breath of 

 air stirred, and after we crossed the Mishawl, not a 

 drop of water was to be had until we got down to low 

 ground again. We toiled from early morning until 

 three o'clock in the afternoon before we reached the 

 summit. As the doctor had taken whisky instead of 

 water in his canteen, he found it necessary to apply to 



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