t so heavily piled with snow, that it seemed
impracticable. He now lit a pipe, and, sitting down with the two guides,
proceeded to hold a consultation after the Indian mode. For a long while
they all smoked vigorously and in silence, pondering over the subject
matter before them. At length a discussion commenced, and the opinion in
which the two guides concurred was, that the horses could not possibly
cross the snows. They advised, therefore, that the party should proceed
on foot, and they should take the horses back to the village, where they
would be well taken care of until Captain Bonneville should send for
them. They urged this advice with great earnestness; declaring that
their chief would be extremely angry, and treat them severely, should
any of the horses of his good friends, the white men, be lost, in
crossing under their guidance; and that, therefore, it was good they
should not attempt it.

Captain Bonneville sat smoking his pipe, and listening to them with
Indian silence and gravity. When they had finished, he replied to them
in their own style of language.

"My friends," said he, "I have seen the pass, and have listened to your
words; you have little hearts. When troubles and dangers lie in your
way, you turn your backs. That is not the way with my nation. When great
obstacles present, and threaten to keep them back, their hearts swell,
and they push forward. They love to conquer difficulties. But enough for
the present. Night is coming on; let us return to our camp."

He moved on, and they followed in silence. On reaching the camp, he
found the men extremely discouraged. One of their number had been
surveying the neighborhood, and seriously assured them that the snow was
at least a hundred feet deep. The captain cheered them up, and diffused
fresh spirit in them by his example. Still he was much perplexed how to
proceed. About dark there was a slight drizzling rain. An expedient now
suggested itself. This was to make two light sleds, place the packs on
them, and drag them to the other side of the mountain, thus forming
a road in the wet snow, which, should it afterward freeze, would be
sufficiently hard to bear the horses. This plan was promptly put into
execution; the sleds were constructed, the heavy baggage was drawn
backward and forward until the road was beaten, when they desisted
from their fatiguing labor. The night turned out clear and cold, and by
morning, their road was incrusted with ice suff