146 A CALIFORNIA TRAMP. 



kind, apparently ready to follow in the wake of their cubical 

 comrade. About sunset we entered the defile before referred 

 to, up which we commenced our toilsome ascent of the moun- 

 tain. The trail was sometimes so shut in by obtruding rocks 

 as to hardly allow the passage of our wagons. We at length 

 reached the snow line, and here the cold grew so intense that 

 our blankets and overcoats were brought into requisition to keep 

 us from freezing. Shortly after entering the canon we were 

 overtaken by a chief of the Santa Claras, who, enraged that so 

 large a body should pass through his domains without paying 

 the usual toll, had started in pursuit of our caravan, hoping to 

 yet squeeze from it a little tribute. He was very impudent in 

 his demands, which our Mormon friends partially satisfied with 

 presents of flour and clothing, after which he left us. Naked 

 as he was, he went bounding through the snow apparently un- 

 conscious of the inclemency of the weather, and was soon out 

 of sight. 



It was far into the night when we reached the summit of 

 the mountain, around which a fierce tempest was blowing 

 and chilling us to the bone, as with shivering limbs and 

 chattering teeth we trudged through the snow by the side of 

 the jaded teams. It was near midnight when we reached a 

 point near the foot of the caiion on the far side of the summit, 

 where we encamped after a march of thirty miles, ten of which 

 had been over the mountain. The cutting wind still howled 

 around our heads with unabated fury, and owing to this, to- 

 gether with the darkness of the night and the scarcity of fuel, 

 we were necessitated to go to bed minus our supper, although 

 we had eaten nothing since morning. Our chief thoughts were 

 as to how and where we would pass the remainder of the night. 

 We now regretted more than ever that we had not provided 

 ourselves with tents when starting on our journey, for it was 

 almost unbearable to lie out in the open air on a night like this. 

 An exploring party having found some cedars on the opposite 



