Our cattle were now brought up and fastened to the withered trees in the open space—then we lay down on our skins round the fire and enjoyed the beaver tails, while our hosts paid special attention to our biscuits and coffee, which were a rarity for them. After supper Armstrong sent the whisky-cup round again, then pipes were lighted, and we first answered the thousand questions asked us about the state of affairs at home, and which principally referred to politics. When this subject was exhausted, Armstrong spoke and told us the principal events of his life since he last bade farewell to civilization, his various bloodthirsty fights with the Indians, the dangers they had often escaped with difficulty, and the fatigues and unpleasantnesses they endured, among which he mentioned the hailstorm, which had also annoyed us. He told us of successful hunts with the traps, and promised to show us the next morning the last beaver to be found in these parts.
Then he told us how the ex-owner of the monstrous bearskin, which hung behind us on a tree, had paid a visit one evening to their camp, and how they killed it. For fear of the Indians they dared not light a large fire, and the few coals had not frightened the bear, which advanced within a few yards of them, when both fired their rifles at its head, and laid it dead on the ground. While telling this story, Armstrong pulled off his shirt and showed us on his sides and back a regular mass of scars which he had received from the embraces of dying grizzlies. He narrated so picturesquely that the matter was fully brought before the listener: his powerful deep voice, which kept pace with the fire of his narrative, the passionate gestures by which he accompanied his narrative, as well as his coarse form, illumined by the fire and the surrounding scenery, produced a remarkable and permanent impression on me. We listened to the stories till a late hour, when fatigue at length closed our eyes.
At the first beam of dawn we led our cattle into the grass, got breakfast ready, and then went with Armstrong about half a mile down the stream, where he had traps still set. We pulled up three beavers with the bushes floating on the water, and our host remarked that now there was only one old fellow left, who had escaped his traps several times and would not go near them again in a hurry. On returning to camp, we packed our animals and took leave of our kind hosts, to whom, to their great joy, we gave a portion of our stock of coffee. We then described to them accurately the district where we had seen the numerous beaver lodges, and wishing them all possible luck, rode again up the mountain's side where we had heard Armstrong shout.
For several days we followed our course without any particular difficulties, while the country retained much the same character. The Sacramento mountains seemed to run farther to the west, and attained their greatest height here. We soon got among higher mountains, and found we should have done better by going more to the east into the prairies, for we were obliged to turn and ride a long way back, as we could not pass through the mountains. At length, however, we reached a river of some size, which flowed to the north-east, and resolved to follow it until we reached lower and more accessible regions where we could pursue our course again. We spent the night on the north side of the river, and found, after riding a few miles down its bank, that the valley through which it flowed constantly grew narrower and the precipices on its sides steeper. It was still early, and the sun had been unable to overpower the thick fog which had gathered in the valleys during the night. It appeared, indeed, still uncertain whether it would rise or fall, as it hung about the rocks in long, narrow strips. It was as cold as on a damp autumn morning; the grass and bushes were as wet as after a heavy shower, and heavy dewdrops hung on the old spider's webs between them. We had put on our buffalo robes and guided our horses between the many loose blocks of stone and step-like strata, while the river constantly displayed larger and smaller cascades, some of which were twenty feet high, and its bed continually became deeper.
We had just reached one of these falls when we noticed on the other bank two very large grizzly bears, one of which squatted on its hind-quarters and stared over at us. They could not hurt us, as the stream above the fall was too rapid for them to swim across without being carried so far that they would go over the fall, and below the latter the banks were at least fifty feet high, and so steep that it was impossible to climb them. Tiger, for all that, advised us not to fire at them, as he was of opinion that they might find a spot where they could cross to us, and then they would give us a good deal of trouble. We therefore rode past without disturbing them, and only watched them as they licked their paws and passed them over their clumsy heads, while sniffing at us from time to time, and even following us a few yards along the bank.
The gorge down which the river dashed grew deeper and our route the more dangerous, until we suddenly came to a ravine which ran across our road into the river bed. Our farther progress was here checked, and we were obliged to try and make a path up it, which was effected with great difficulty, as the stones lay wildly about. We soon reached an old very practicable path, which, as it appeared to us, was used not only by buffaloes, but also by Indians, and which ran north-west. Tiger was of opinion that this was the road through these mountains to Santa Fé which the foot Indians employed, as they avoid the prairies in order to get out of the way of the mounted tribes, and because travelling in the tall grass is too fatiguing for a pedestrian.
We gladly followed it, for the road through the rocks was more impassable than ever; it ran up hill rather sharply toward the highest mountain saddles. The nearer we advanced to them the better and more passable the path became, and our horses scaled these high hills at a good pace, and at times had an opportunity of drawing breath on small plateaus. The sky was perfectly cloudless and the sun warm, so that we welcomed the light north wind. Eastward the low hills lay at our feet in the extreme distance, between which we could watch the various mountain torrents for a long way, while here and there the rich green of the fresh turf peeped out between the red masses. On our left, the mountains were piled on each other in the strangest forms until their glistening ice-peaks rose into the azure sky. Our path frequently wound along the precipices, where it could be seen for a long distance like a white stripe, and it did not seem possible to pass along it; but when we reached the spot our horses stepped lightly over it, and we found that it looked worse than it really was.
Thus, toward evening, when the sun was sinking behind the mountains, we saw our path suddenly disappear behind an abrupt precipice, and expected a dangerous bit. When we arrived there we considered it really better to dismount and lead our horses. The path constantly grew narrower under the precipice, and the abyss beneath us steeper and deeper at every step. We advanced as it was no longer possible to turn back, and with each foot our situation became more serious. We wound round the face of the rock and looked down into a dizzy ravine, whose bottom was already hidden by the gloom. The path was only a few feet wide, and at many places washed away by the rain. Tiger, with his piebald, was ahead of me, and was leading his horse by a long bridle; all at once he cried to me, "Take care," and I saw his horse step down and then spring up again. The rain had excavated the path here to some depth, and by its side the rocks went down sheer. Without hesitation, I seized the end of the bridle, quickly crossed the dangerous spot, and Czar did the same gallantly. Königstein followed me, and then one after the other till the mules at length came up. Jack was ahead; he went cautiously up and down, and I saw the basket on his left side graze the precipice; still he got across safely. Lizzy followed at his heels; but Sam swerved when he arrived at the spot, made a leap to get across, struck his basket against the precipice, and was hurled out into the abyss, down which he fell with all four feet in the air. A general "Ah!" was the sole sound that passed our lips, for we were not yet out of danger ourselves. Ere long, however, the path grew broader, and ran over a grassy plateau, whence we could look back at the dangerous point and into the dark abyss. Had we arrived from this side, not one of us would have dared to lead his horse over it, and we should have been obliged to ride round a long way.
The loss of Sam was serious to us, for he carried our coffee, spirits, several buffalo robes and articles of clothing. A little coffee was still packed on Jack, as we had opened a fresh bladder that very morning, and that animal carried all the articles for daily consumption. Still the matter could not be helped, and we regarded the loss as a very fortunate one, as we might just as easily have lost one of our horses, which would have been far more serious. We unpacked, as the sun had set and we did not know what roads we might still find. We had grass for our hungry cattle, and water for ourselves we carried with us. We made a small fire of bois de vache, to which Tiger presently brought a few twigs of mimosa, so that we were able to cook our supper; then we supplied our friends whose bedding had fallen into the abyss with such blankets and hides as we could spare. The night was very cold, and we missed a good wood fire terribly. We rolled ourselves tighter in our blankets and skins, but could not keep warm, and were glad when daylight came and we could make our blood circulate by moving about. All of us, except Antonio, hurried off to look for firewood, in search of which we had to go some distance; still the movement did us good, and each brought an armful of wood back, so that we soon had a good fire at which to warm our benumbed hands.
It was very early when we rode off with our buffalo robes over our shoulders: we pulled the large woollen blankets that hung over the saddle across our lap, so as to keep our knees warm, and throwing the bridle on the horse's neck, we put our hands in our jacket-pockets. The whole landscape looked as if sugared, the grass and bushes sparkled in the