ir
camp was among the mountains. The consciousness of being environed by
such dangerous neighbors, and of being still within the range of Rose
and his fellow ruffians, obliged the party to be continually on the
alert, and to maintain weary vigils throughout the night, lest they
should be robbed of their horses.

On the third of September, finding that the mountain still stretched
onwards, presenting a continued barrier, they endeavored to force a
passage to the westward, but soon became entangled among rocks and
precipices which set all their efforts at defiance. The mountain seemed,
for the most part, rugged, bare, and sterile; yet here and there it was
clothed with pines, and with shrubs and flowering plants, some of which
were in bloom. In tolling among these weary places, their thirst became
excessive, for no water was to be met with. Numbers of the men wandered
off into rocky dells and ravines in hopes of finding some brook or
fountain; some of whom lost their way and did not rejoin the main party.

After a day of painful and fruitless scrambling, Mr. Hunt gave up the
attempt to penetrate in this direction, and, returning to the little
stream on the skirts of the mountain, pitched his tents within six miles
of his encampment of the preceding night. He now ordered that signals
should be made for the stragglers in quest of water; but the night
passed away without their return.

The next morning, to their surprise, Rose made his appearance at the
camp, accompanied by some of his Crow associates. His unwelcome visit
revived their suspicions; but he announced himself as a messenger of
good-will from the chief, who, finding they had taken the wrong road,
had sent Rose and his companions to guide them to a nearer and better
one across the mountain.

Having no choice, being themselves utterly at fault, they set out under
this questionable escort. They had not gone far before they fell in with
the whole party of Crows, who, they now found, were going the same road
with themselves. The two cavalcades of white and red men, therefore,
pushed on together, and presented a wild and picturesque spectacle,
as, equipped with various weapons and in various garbs, with trains of
pack-horses, they wound in long lines through the rugged defiles, and up
and down the crags and steeps of the mountain.

The travellers had again an opportunity to see and admire the equestrian
habitudes and address of this hard-riding tribe. They were al