d stretched to the southwest,
as far as the eye could reach, rivalling the deserts of Asia and Africa
in sterility. There was neither tree, nor herbage, nor spring, nor pool,
nor running stream, nothing but parched wastes of sand, where horse and
rider were in danger of perishing.

Their sufferings, at length, became so great that they abandoned
their intended course, and made towards a range of snowy mountains,
brightening in the north, where they hoped to find water. After a time,
they came upon a small stream leading directly towards these mountains.
Having quenched their burning thirst, and refreshed themselves and their
weary horses for a time, they kept along this stream, which gradually
increased in size, being fed by numerous brooks. After approaching the
mountains, it took a sweep toward the southwest, and the travellers
still kept along it, trapping beaver as they went, on the flesh of which
they subsisted for the present, husbanding their dried meat for future
necessities.

The stream on which they had thus fallen is called by some, Mary River,
but is more generally known as Ogden's River, from Mr. Peter Ogden, an
enterprising and intrepid leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, who
first explored it. The wild and half-desert region through which the
travellers were passing, is wandered over by hordes of Shoshokoes, or
Root Diggers, the forlorn branch of the Snake tribe. They are a shy
people, prone to keep aloof from the stranger. The travellers frequently
met with their trails, and saw the smoke of their fires rising in
various parts of the vast landscape, so that they knew there were great
numbers in the neighborhood, but scarcely ever were any of them to be
met with.

After a time, they began to have vexatious proofs that, if the
Shoshokoes were quiet by day, they were busy at night. The camp was
dogged by these eavesdroppers; scarce a morning, but various articles
were missing, yet nothing could be seen of the marauders. What
particularly exasperated the hunters, was to have their traps stolen
from the streams. One morning, a trapper of a violent and savage
character, discovering that his traps had been carried off in the night,
took a horrid oath to kill the first Indian he should meet, innocent
or guilty. As he was returning with his comrades to camp, he beheld two
unfortunate Diggers, seated on the river bank, fishing. Advancing upon
them, he levelled his rifle, shot one upon the spot, and flung his
b