Some of the deep gorges and defiles sent up
sheets of flame, and clouds of lurid smoke, and sparks and cinders that
in the night made them resemble the craters of volcanoes. The groves and
forests, too, which crowned the cliffs, shot up their towering columns
of fire, and added to the furnace glow of the mountains. With these
stupendous sights were combined the rushing blasts caused by the
rarefied air, which roared and howled through the narrow glens, and
whirled forth the smoke and flames in impetuous wreaths. Ever and anon,
too, was heard the crash of falling trees, sometimes tumbling from crags
and precipices, with tremendous sounds.
In the daytime, the mountains were wrapped in smoke so dense and
blinding, that the explorers, if by chance they separated, could only
find each other by shouting. Often, too, they had to grope their way
through the yet burning forests, in constant peril from the limbs and
trunks of trees, which frequently fell across their path. At length
they gave up the attempt to find a pass as hopeless, under actual
circumstances, and made their way back to the camp to report their
failure.
45.
The Skynses--Their traffic--Hunting--Food--Horses--A horse-
race--Devotional feeling of the Skynses, Nez Perces and
Flatheads--Prayers--Exhortations--A preacher on horseback
Effect of religion on the manners of the tribes--A new
light.
DURING the absence of this detachment, a sociable intercourse had been
kept up between the main party and the Skynses, who had removed into
the neighborhood of the camp.
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