North-West Continent of America. 273 



companion and one of my men, to follow us, as his strength 

 would permit him. The fatigue of ascending these pre- 

 cipices I shall not attempt to describe, and it was past five 

 when we arrived at a spot where we could get water, and 

 in such an extremity of weariness, that it was with great 

 pain any of us could crawl about to gather wood for the 

 necessary purpose of making a fire. To relieve our anxiety, 

 which began to increase every moment, for the situation 

 of the Indian, about seven he and his companions arrived; 

 when we consoled ourselves by sitting round a blazing- 

 fire, talking of past dangers, and indulging the delightful 

 Teflection that w T e were thus far advanced on our home- 

 ward journey. Nor was it possible to be in this situation 

 without contemplating the wonders of it. Such was the 

 depth of the precipices below, and the height of the moun- 

 tains above, with the rude and wild magnificence of the 

 scenery around, that I shall not attempt to describe such 

 an astonishing and awful combination of objects; of 

 'which, indeed, no description can convey an adequate idea. 

 Even at this place, which is only, as it were, the first step 

 towards gaining the summit of the mountains, the climate 

 was very sensibly changed. The air that fanned the village 

 which we left at noon, was mild and cheering ; the grass 

 was verdant, and the wild fruits ripe around it. But here 

 the snow was not yet dissolved, the ground was still bound 

 by the frost, the herbage had scarce begun to spring, and 

 the crow«berry bushes were just beginning to blossom. 



Saturday 27. So great was our fatigue of yesterday, 

 that it was late before we proceeded to return over the 

 mountains, by the same route which we had followed in 

 our outward journey. There was little or no change in 

 the appearance of the mountains since, we passed them, 

 though the weather was very fine. 



Sunday 28. At nine this morning we arrived at the 

 spot, where we slept with the natives on the 16th instant, 

 and found our pemmican in good condition where we had 

 buried it. 



The latitude of this place, by observation, when I passed, 

 I found to be 52. 46. 32. I now took time, and the dis- 

 tance between sun and moon. I had also an azimuth, to 

 ascertain the variation. 



We continued our route with fine weather, and without 

 meeting a single person on our way, the natives being all 

 gone, as we supposed, to the Great River. We recovered 



2 i 



