THE CHILKOOT PASS. 
133 
the goat, which were straightway added to the bill of 
fare of the party. 
It was thought best to rest a day at the Stone Houses, 
and the decision was a fortunate one, for by eleven in the 
forenoon a driving hailstorm set in, and throughout the 
remainder of the day it rained and snowed furiously by 
turns. The ladies were quite comfortable in their snug 
cave, the front opening of which was overhung by a 
broad boulder, forming a natural lintel. The Indians 
crept into the crevices among the rocks, like so many 
marmots. Solomon improved the time by fashioning the 
new horn handle to his knife. 
Next morning the expedition was en route at half past 
three. The sun shone brightly, and scattered the fogs 
from the valleys. The hardest day's march of all was 
before the Buttons, through what is now called Perrier 
Pass. 
Up, up they mounted, over dreary wastes of snow and 
ice, the Indian packers going ahead and often pausing to 
cut steps in the glacier slopes, or looking back and gestic- 
ulating to point out the best route. At noon all hands 
reached the summit of the pass, a trifle more than four 
thousand feet above the level of the sea. A cold, clammy 
fog drifted around them ; nothing was to be seen but 
snow and ice and a few stretches of bare rock. 
On one of these last they paused for a dry and cold 
luncheon, there being no fuel of any kind near. On 
again, down a steep descent, the Indians using snow- 
