ly, pointed to three mountain
peaks glistening with snow, which rose, he said, above a fork of
Columbia River. They were hailed by the travellers with that joy with
which a beacon on a seashore is hailed by mariners after a long and
dangerous voyage.

It is true there was many a weary league to be traversed before they
should reach these landmarks, for, allowing for their evident height and
the extreme transparency of the atmosphere, they could not be much less
than a hundred miles distant. Even after reaching them, there would yet
remain hundreds of miles of their journey to be accomplished. All these
matters were forgotten in the joy at seeing the first landmarks of the
Columbia, that river which formed the bourne of the expedition. These
remarkable peaks were known as the Tetons; as guiding points for many
days, to Mr. Hunt, he gave them the names of the Pilot Knobs.

The travellers continued their course to the south of west for about
forty miles, through a region so elevated that patches of snow lay on
the highest summits and on the northern declivities. At length they came
to the desired stream, the object of their search, the waters of which
flowed to the west. It was, in fact, a branch of the Colorado, which
falls into the Gulf of California, and had received from the hunters
the name of Spanish River, from information given by the Indians that
Spaniards resided upon its lower waters.

The aspect of this river and its vicinity was cheering to the wayworn
and hungry travellers. Its banks were green, and there were grassy
valleys running from it various directions, into the heart of the rugged
mountains, with herds of buffalo quietly grazing. The hunters sallied
forth with keen alacrity, and soon returned laden with provisions.

In this part of the mountains Mr. Hunt met with three different kinds of
gooseberries. The common purple, on a low and very thorny bush; a yellow
kind, of an excellent flavor, growing on a stock free from thorns; and
a deep purple, of the size and taste of our winter grape, with a thorny
stalk. There were also three kinds of currants, one very large and well
tasted, of a purple color, and growing on a bush eight or nine feet
high. Another of a yellow color, and of the size and taste of the large
red currant, the bush four or five feet high; and the third a beautiful
scarlet, resembling the strawberry in sweetness, though rather insipid,
and growing on a low bush.

On the 17th they con