our eyes, we
felt strong hope that we should force our way down. But this was a case
in which the descent was not facile. Still, deep fields of snow lay
between, and there was a large intervening space of rough looking
mountains, through which we had yet to wind our way. Carson roused me
this morning with an early fire, and we were all up long before day,
in order to pass the snow fields before the sun should render the crust
soft. We enjoyed this morning a scene at sunrise, which, even here,
was unusually glorious and beautiful. Immediately above the eastern
mountains was repeated a cloud formed mass of purple ranges, bordered
with bright yellow gold; the peaks shot up into a narrow line of crimson
cloud, above which the air was filled with a greenish orange; and over
all was the singular beauty of the blue sky. Passing along a ridge which
commanded the lake on our right, of which we began to discover an outlet
through a chasm on the west, we passed over alternating open ground and
hard crusted snow fields which supported the animals, and encamped on
the ridge after a journey of six miles. The grass was better than we
had yet seen, and we were encamped in a clump of trees, twenty or thirty
feet high, resembling white pine."

CHAPTER XXIV.

Continuation of Fremont's Account of the Passage Through the Mountains.

"We had hard and doubtful labor yet before us, as the snow appeared to
be heavier where the timber began further down, with few open spots.
Ascending a height, we traced out the best line we could discover for
the next day's march, and had at least the consolation to see that the
mountain descended rapidly. The day had been one of April; gusty, with
a few occasional flakes of snow; which, in the afternoon enveloped the
upper mountains in clouds. We watched them anxiously, as now we dreaded
a snow storm. Shortly afterwards we heard the roll of thunder, and
looking toward the valley, found it all enveloped in a thunderstorm. For
us, as connected with the idea of summer, it had a singular charm; and
we watched its progress with excited feelings until nearly sunset,
when the sky cleared off brightly, and we saw a shining line of water
directing its course towards another, a broader and larger sheet. We
knew that these could be no other than the Sacramento and the bay of San
Francisco; but, after our long wandering in rugged mountains, where so
frequently we had met with disappointments, and where the crossi