tern and rocky heights, and surrounded by grassy meadows, inexpressibly
refreshing to the eye. These probably were among the sources of those
mighty streams which take their rise among these mountains, and wander
hundreds of miles through the plains.

In the green pastures bordering upon these lakes, the travellers halted
to repose, and to give their weary horses time to crop the sweet and
tender herbage. They had now ascended to a great height above the level
of the plains, yet they beheld huge crags of granite piled one upon
another, and beetling like battlements far above them. While two of
the men remained in the camp with the horses, Captain Bonneville,
accompanied by the other men [man], set out to climb a neighboring
height, hoping to gain a commanding prospect, and discern some
practicable route through this stupendous labyrinth. After much toil, he
reached the summit of a lofty cliff, but it was only to behold gigantic
peaks rising all around, and towering far into the snowy regions of the
atmosphere. Selecting one which appeared to be the highest, he crossed a
narrow intervening valley, and began to scale it. He soon found that
he had undertaken a tremendous task; but the pride of man is never more
obstinate than when climbing mountains. The ascent was so steep and
rugged that he and his companion were frequently obliged to clamber on
hands and knees, with their guns slung upon their backs. Frequently,
exhausted with fatigue, and dripping with perspiration, they threw
themselves upon the snow, and took handfuls of it to allay their
parching thirst. At one place, they even stripped off their coats and
hung them upon the bushes, and thus lightly clad, proceeded to scramble
over these eternal snows. As they ascended still higher, there were cool
breezes that refreshed and braced them, and springing with new ardor to
their task, they at length attained the summit.

Here a scene burst upon the view of Captain Bonneville, that for a time
astonished and overwhelmed him with its immensity. He stood, in fact,
upon that dividing ridge which Indians regard as the crest of the world;
and on each side of which, the landscape may be said to decline to the
two cardinal oceans of the globe. Whichever way he turned his eye, it
was confounded by the vastness and variety of objects. Beneath him, the
Rocky Mountains seemed to open all their secret recesses: deep, solemn
valleys; treasured lakes; dreary passes; rugged defiles, and