ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC. 123 



bear starting occasionally, when the feet of my horse would slip 

 on a stone, and one side of him would slide rapidly towards 

 the edge of the precipice, but I always recovered myself by a 

 desperate effort, and it was fortunate for me that I did so. 



Late in the afternoon, we completed the passage across the 

 mountain, and with thankful hearts, again trod the level land. 

 We entered here a fine rich valley or plain, of about half a mile 

 in width, between two ranges of the mountain. It was profusely 

 covered with willow, and through the middle of it, ran a rapid 

 and turbulent mountain torrent, called Mallade river. It contains 

 a great abundance of beaver, their recent dams being seen in 

 great numbers, and in the night, when all was quiet, we could 

 hear the playful animals at their gambols, diving from the shore 

 into the water, and striking the surface with their broad tails. 

 The sound, altogether, was not unlike that of children at play, 

 and the animated description of a somewhat similar scene, in the 

 " Mohicans," recurred to my recollection, where the single-minded 

 Gamut is contemplating with feelings of strong reprobation, the 

 wayward freaks of what he supposes to be a bevy of young 

 savages. 



lAth. — We travelled down Mallade river, and followed the 

 Indian trail through the valley. The path frequently passed 

 along near the base of the mountain, and then wound its way a 

 considerable distance up it, to avoid rocky impediments and thick 

 tangled bushes below, so that we had some climbing to do ; but 

 the difficulties and perils of the route of yesterday are still so fresh 

 in our memory, that all minor things are disregarded, at least by 

 us. Our poor horses, however, no doubt feel differently, as they 

 are very tired and foot sore. 



The next day we came to a close and almost impenetrable 

 thicket of tangled willows, through which we had great diffi- 

 culty in urging our horses. The breadth of the thicket was 



