At length one of the mules, being about
to give out from fatigue and famine, they hastened to dispatch him.
Husbanding this miserable supply, they dried the flesh, and for three
days subsisted upon the nutriment extracted from the bones. As to the
meat, it was packed and preserved as long as they could do without it,
not knowing how long they might remain bewildered in these desolate
regions.
One of the men was now dispatched ahead, to reconnoitre the country, and
to discover, if possible, some more practicable route. In the meantime,
the rest of the party moved on slowly. After a lapse of three days, the
scout rejoined them. He informed them that Snake River ran immediately
below the sierra or mountainous ridge, upon which they were travelling;
that it was free from precipices, and was at no great distance from them
in a direct line; but that it would be impossible for them to reach it
without making a weary circuit. Their only course would be to cross the
mountain ridge to the left.
Up this mountain, therefore, the weary travellers directed their steps;
and the ascent, in their present weak and exhausted state, was one of
the severest parts of this most painful journey. For two days were they
toiling slowly from cliff to cliff, beating at every step a path through
the snow for their faltering horses. At length they reached the summit,
where the snow was blown off; but in descending on the opposite side,
they were often plunging through deep drifts, piled in the hollows and
ravines.
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