FIRST ATTEMPTED ASCENT, 1857 



grazed and moved about so much like them, that, 

 taken in connection with the tracks we saw, we jumped 

 at once to the conclusion that they were mountain 

 sheep, of which we all had heard a great deal, but none 

 of our party had ever seen any. My report of these 

 animals, which was published in the Washington 

 Republican on our return, was severely ridiculed by 

 some of the naturalists who were hunting for unde- 

 scribed insects and animals in that country at the 

 time. We are still at a loss to understand the habits 

 of the creatures, and to reconcile the split hoofs which 

 the tracks indicated with their burrow in the earth. 1 



On the following morning the seventh day from 

 our camp on the Mishawl the sky showed signs of 

 clear weather, and we began the ascent of the main 

 peak. Until about noon we were enveloped in clouds, 

 and only occasionally did we get a glimpse of the 

 peak. Soon after midday we reached suddenly a colder 

 atmosphere, and found ourselves all at once above 

 the clouds, which were spread out smooth and even as 

 a sea, above which appeared the snowy peaks of St. 

 Helens, Mount Adams, and Mount Hood, looking like 

 pyramidal icebergs above an ocean. At first we could 

 not see down through the clouds into the valleys. 

 Above, the atmosphere was singularly clear, and the re- 

 flection of the sun upon the snow very powerful. The 

 summit of Rainier seemed very close at hand. 



About two o'clock in the afternoon the clouds rolled 

 away like a scroll ; in a very short time they had 

 disappeared, and the Cascade Range lay before us in 

 all its greatness. The view was too grand and ex- 

 tensive to be taken in at once, or in the short time we 

 had to observe. The entire scene, with few exceptions, 

 was covered with forests, with here and there barren 

 rocky peaks that rose up out of the ridges ; now and 

 then a mountain lake, much more blue than the sky, 



1 The burrow was made by the marmot and the split-hoof tracks in the loose 

 earth were made by mountain goats. 



85 



