■ jl|! ' , At half paft five* this mornipg we p^cefijtted go fodr jdUriaey* /with
r'r^TC- weather, and when we came to -thjç; .end • o f the lake fevera 1 ; tracks
were vifible that led to the fide of the water^frorn which qjreumftance I
concluded, that fome,pf the natives were fifhing, along the banks: of: iti
This lake is not more than three miles long, and about one broad. -We
then palfed four fmaller lakes, the two firft being on our, right* and-thofe
which preceded on our left, ,,A 1’mall riveiLallb flowed taeEpfsop«r>way
from the right, and^we palfed it., oyer a beayer-|dam.A laTgerlakenow,
appeared on our right, andyhe mountains on eachhdefOf uswere ootpred
with fnow. We afterwards came to iiaotherj lake on our right, ^and fifon
reached a river,, which ;oiif guides, informed, ijs was. ^ e f fame that wet had
palfed on a . They faid it was na-vig^bje %,eanoea from the great!
îiver, eiçt^pt two Japjds, one of which w^h%(l.fejps.t ; At .ri?ri,place it ,^
upwards o f twenty yard?- aprofs, and, deep,, ^Que^f, the,,guffi|s.
over, to fetch a raft whis^ wa?: oi^the opppfij^.. fide ; and baying
encreafedits dimenlions, we crofted at two trips*, exçeptfoiaçof the
men, who preferred fwimming.
iVjHere our conduâors renewed theit; menace of leaving.us» and I Was
obliged to give tfeem lèverai articles, and promife tnorey rip .order; to
induce them to continue till we could procure other, natives to fucceed
them,/Ah four in the afternoon we folded the fame .riveati and beinp*
with the guides at fome diftance. before the reft o,f the people, I fat down,
to wait for, them, and no fooner did they arriye, than the former dét off
With fo, much fpeed, that my attempt to,.fo(llow them proved unfuccefs-
ful. One of my Indians, however, who had no load*,overtook them*
when they excufed themfelves to him by declaring, that their foie
motive
motive for leaving us, was to prevent the people, whom they expefted
to find, from {hooting their arrows at us. At feven o’clock, however,
we were.fo fatigued, that we encamped without them : the mountains
covered with fnow, now appeared to be dire&ly before us. As we
were colle&ing wood for our fire, we difcovered a erofs roadj where it
appeared , that people had palfed within feven or eight days-.' In Ihorti
our fituation was fuch. as to afford a juft caufe; of alarm,- and that of the
people with me.wa&jof a nature to defy immediate alleviation. It. wad
psceffary, however, for me: to attempt i t ; and I relied niy principles "Of
encouragement on a reprelentation of otir paft perplexities and unexpected
reliefiand endeavoured' to» excite^ in them the hope o f fimil&r
good fortune. I Hated-to them, that we could not *be' at' a diftabCe
from the fea; and that there- were but few* natives to pafs, till we Ihoul'd
arrive? among thofe, who being-’ aceuftomed to’-rifit fCa^coaff’ and ,
hating: feeii white people, vkniId bef dtfpofed to tfeat us with kindnefsl
Such was the general tenor-of the reafoiiing I employed on the occafion,
and I was happy to find that it was not offered in vaini*
• The weather.had been cloudy till three in the afternoon, when the1 fun
appeared; but furrounded, as we wefe} with fnow-clad mountains, the
a;r became fo cold, that the violence of our excrcifej was not fufficient to*
produce a comfortable degree o f warmth. Oiir cohrfe to-day was from
Weft to South, and at leaft thirty-fix 'miles. The lahd in general was
very barren and ftony, and lay* in ridgeS,' with cyprels- trees fcattered
over them. We palfed feveral fwamps, where we faw nothing to corifole
us but ^ few tracks of deer.