Chapter Twenty-First.
Departure of winter. Joy at the fact of knowing which way they weretravelling. Their encampment by the side of a beautiful lake. Theyreach the first ranges of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Whirlwind offersto go to Mr. Duncan's encampment and guide them through the forests. Hestarts on that expedition accompanied by Cole. The children pursuetheir journey. Discovery of gold. They experience great difficulties incrossing the Sierra. Three of their horses dashed to pieces over aprecipice. Narrow escape of Jones. Discovery of singular ancient walls.An engraved slab of granite. They reach the foot of the Sierra insafety. Their route continued. They finally arrive at the residence ofa Spanish Curate. They consent to tarry awhile at his house.
Winter gradually wore away--the snow-girt hills and valleys weredivested of their mantle of gloom, and were clothed with vestments ofgreen, spangled with crimson, blue, and gold flowers, the perfume ofwhich called forth the soft hum of bees as they flew from flower toflower, extracting the honied dews. Far from the sunny South the birdscame with their glad, cheering voices, giving forth a welcome to thedawning spring. The winter had been long and tedious, cheered only withthe certainty that they knew which way they had to travel in order toreach the haunts of civilization; and though they had kept the hungerwolf at bay, their strength gradually gave out under their unhealthydiet, and when they were ready to travel, they were in a pitifulcondition to endure its fatigues. Their horses were even worse off thanthemselves. Worn with privation to skeletons, they were drooping andspiritless; and had not the wanderers used great exertion to collectthe young grass for them, they would have perished, for they were toolanguid to crop it themselves.
Slowly at first new vigor became infused into them, and in a few weeks'delay, and the spring rains being over, their horses gathered strength,and they determined to proceed on their journey. Upon maturedeliberation they considered it prudent to cross the mountains to thePacific coast, and then send word to Mr. Duncan where they were, asthey did not deem themselves strong or well enough prepared to make thedistance back to their friends. Whirlwind heard the decision, and thentold them he thought it best that one or more of them should return toMr. Duncan, and as he could be spared best, offered to go, if eitherJones or Cole would guide him on the road; "for," said the chief,"Duncan and the rest can come to you better than you can go to them, inyour present condition."
"Always generous," said Jane, with gratitude beaming in her eye, for intruth she felt heart-sick at the thought of placing a still greaterdistance between herself and those her heart yearned to see.
"It is nothing," said the chief. "Whirlwind would give his life, if itwould save the antelope a pang of sorrow or grief."
"I think Duncan would as soon settle here as in Oregon, his originaldestination," said the trapper; "and if we can so arrange it as to makeit safe for us, I think myself it would be a better plan, than for allof us to proceed over the mountains, and then, when we are able, returnagain."
"In doing this," said Cole, "we can reach Mr. Duncan's camp, if stillwhere you left him, which I think he is, before midsummer, and then hewill be able to reach you at the nearest settlement by the time frostagain comes. I am willing to accompany the chief, while Jones can guideyou in safety over the Sierra before you."
Selecting two of the best horses for the use of Whirlwind and Cole,they took leave of them, charging them with a multitude of messages fortheir friends, and when they started on the homeward route, they toomoved on towards the mountain before them, whose snow-crested headloomed up among the clouds. At noon our wanderers halted at the spotthey retreated from when they went into their winter quarters, andafter resting, began to climb the rugged ascent, Jones leading the way;and, save an occasional path beaten by the denizens of the forest,their only landmark was the blazed trees.[14] Jones had been over theground before, and as his memory was very tenacious, he saved them frommuch anxiety, and often from danger, as well as unnecessary fatigue.Their progress was necessarily slow and painful, but they were stillbrave at heart, and bore it in silence. At night they halted by theside of a beautiful lake, around which the hills curved gracefully,forming a natural basin, which held the transparent waters against theside of the mountain. Its banks were richly covered with grass, andshaded by aspens which, with the rugged peaks of the mountains thattowered above, gave it a sylvan appearance.
[14] Bark cut off from trees to indicate a certain course through the forests. It is a very common practice among the pioneers of the West.
Numerous flocks of ducks were seen on the surface of the lake, and someof them contributed to the supper of the travellers, whose appetites,sharpened by the mountain air, relished their delicious flavor.Following down this lake the next morning for nearly half a mile, theypassed round it, and commenced the ascent of the range above them.Innumerable springs dotted the trail on either side, while shrubs andthe earliest spring flowers hung and overrun every crevice in the rocksaround them. The scenery was wilder here than any they had met withbefore in all their wanderings. Their path led them often betweenstupendous, curious looking rocks, which rose on either side, narrowingthe pass so that they were obliged to travel in Indian file. It was asingular place--the grey, smooth, rocky precipices--the strip of bluesky far above--an open chasm, in which one would naturally expect ifanywhere, to encounter spirits and hobgoblins. Happily for ourwanderers, they were well aware they had not emigrated from the oldworld, but in their place feared to encounter hostile Indians. Emergingfrom this defile, they continued their course over a rocky surface, thevegetation every moment growing more sparse, and when night came onthey were nowhere near water, and all they had to relieve their thirstwas what they found in crevices of rocks that had collected thereduring the last rain. A little scanty herbage was all their horsescould find after their hard day's travel, and had they not brought asupply of fowl from the lake where they had camped the night before,they would have gone supperless to rest.
At early dawn they left that inhospitable spot, and by sunrise came tothe top of the acclivity of the range. Below them lay a beautifulvalley clothed with verdure, through which flowed a considerable river,and beyond the range of hills that skirted it on the other side, rosethe topmost snow-covered peak of the Sierra. They found the descentinto the valley far more difficult than the ascent, the trail oftenleading them along a narrow footpath, the rocks rising perpendicularlyon one side, while on the other were yawning chasms a hundred feetbelow, apparently ready to receive them, should they stumble, ordeviate from the rugged path before them. They made the descent insafety, and rested themselves for the remainder of the day on the bankof the river. On examining the stream, they found it too deep to beforded in the usual way of riding their horses over. They built a raft,on which they crossed, holding the horses by the halter, making themswim by its side.
The next morning, with a day's supply of provisions for themselves andanimals, they began the ascent of the range before them, the summit ofwhich they gained the next day with perfect safety, and then began theopposite descent, camping for the night on the western side. The slopeat this point was less rugged and difficult of descent than the other,and they encamped at its base, having made extraordinary marches thelast few days, taking into consideration the dangerous path over whichthey had travelled. There was no valley here, the ground between thisrange and the Sierra being a commingling of rolling hills, shady dells,and narrow ravines, all densely covered with verdure, through whichsmall rivulets murmured, taking their rise at the base of the Sierra,and wound their way through the broken surface, now in tranquil beauty,and anon dashing in waterfalls down ledges of rocks, their clear limpidwaters lashed to a foam. Large quantities of deer, elk, antelope, andmountain sheep, were found there, as well as wild turkeys, geese,partridges, duck, and numerous other smaller fowls. Secure in themountain fastnesses the game had multiplied till it had completelyfilled the whole country, and Howe declared that during all his huntingand trapping career, he had never encountered such
a variety andquantity in so small a space of territory.
"I cannot think it a small space," said Jones. "In my opinion, itextends many hundred miles each way, giving game range enough."
They were now at the foot of the last and most formidable object thatdebarred them from civilization, and here they thought it prudent tohalt a few days to recruit their own as well as their animal'sstrength, and prepare provision to carry with them. The second day ofthe halt while they were in search of the roots of the yampa, theyfound on turning up the earth that it was specked with fine particlesof gold. They were highly elated at this, for now, with a fair prospectof freeing themselves from the wilds, it had its old intrinsic value,and doubly valuable would it be to them, on gaining a settlement, asnot one of them had an article of clothing about them that was not madeof skins, and many in not over good repair.
"We can save this now, I suppose," said Sidney, "that the chief is notby with evil spirits?"
"Certainly, as much as you like," returned the trapper. "I intend tofind some on my own account."
"You will not find any that will equal in quantities and value, that ofthe cavern in the oasis," said Edward.
"You don't know that," returned his uncle. "I have always noticed wheregold is found in flakes, mixed with earth, that it has been washed inages past into its present bed, from where it originally was in a purestate. At least such is the conclusion formed by present appearances."
"No harm in searching for it," said Jones, who was in ecstacies at thediscovery of gold, and he began to tear up the loose earth in everydirection around him. Leaving the rest picking out the tiny flakes fromthe earthy bed, Howe and Jones spent the day in examining thelocalities around where they thought it most likely the ore was to befound, but obtained only torn hands and feet for their labor, and wereglad to give up the search and return to camp. During their absence thechildren had collected a great deal, sometimes finding nuggets as largeas a walnut.
"Oh! well," said Jones, in a fretful tone, when the children displayedtheir wealth before him, "I can get enough when I am over themountains, if I have missed it to-day."
"As for that, we will share with you," said Jane. "You have lead us sofar out of the wilderness where, without your aid, we might haveperished. We do not forget this, and what we have to bestow, which isvery little, is at your command."
"Well, well, there is no need of it: I tell you I have lumps of goldover the mountains larger than I can lift. Besides, can I not get somemyself out of the earth to-morrow?"
After a few days' sojourn here, they prepared themselves as well astheir scanty means would allow, to cross the barrier before them. Allday long they rode over the broken ground, along which the trail lay,and at night halted far up its rugged side, where they could look downupon the rolling valley below. Here they found the night air very cold,and they were obliged to enclose boughs around them to break the windfrom their miserable retreat while they slept.
Taking an early breakfast, they started on, and at night, having made agood day's ride, reached within a short distance of the summit of themountain. Here they experienced much difficulty in respiration. Thevegetation also became very sparse; the ground sometimes in largespaces being covered with piles of slate and limestone, among which,not a shrub could take root. They often terminated in precipices makingthe trail through their windings difficult and dangerous. By the aid oflarge fires they spent the night very comfortably, and the next morningdetermined, while still refreshed by rest, to cross the summit and makethe descent so far as would make respiration less difficult, for evennow they were at times dizzy and faint. To ride through these difficultplaces was impossible, and dismounting, they passed up the narrow pathone at a time; sometimes the ascent was so glassed with ice and sosteep that they were obliged to pull themselves up by clinging withtheir hands to the rocks above them. A crust of ice and snow coveredthe ground, and the horses being unshod, floundered and stumbled, andoften made narrow escapes from being precipitated into the abyss below.The poor beasts seemed to comprehend the danger, and carefully triedthe ground at every step before venturing their weight fully upon it,and shuddering and trembling, kept as far from the edge of theice-bound rocks as the narrowness of the pass would allow them. The sunshone brightly, but it created little warmth, and in the middle of Junethey were suffering the rigors of winter.
Safely they stood upon the summit of the Sierra! Away to the west asmooth blue belt girt the horizon, while to the east a long range ofmountains rose against the sky. It was the Pacific on the west, and theWahsatch mountains on the east, with the broad valleys basking in asummer sun between them, through which rivers wound their darkserpentine lines, while away to the north-east the great desert lay,with its white sands glittering beneath the rays that fell upon it.
What struck them as peculiar, was numerous dark spots scattered atintervals over the barren waste, while in the centre lay some ofimmense size, clothed with dark verdure, from the midst of which rose amountain, looking from that distance, like a shaft against the sky.They concluded to themselves, these must be strips of land, yet intheir wanderings they had come across but one. They did not relish theidea of being caught in darkness on that inhospitable elevation, andturning their steps once more into the trail, began the descent.Greatly to their relief, they found this more even and less steep, anddescended a few hundred feet without any great exertion. They now couldbreathe freer, and began to be much relieved. Ice and snow alsodisappeared, and keeping on their way steadily, by night they reached arefreshing spring, around which grass grew in abundance, and by whichthey encamped for the night. Tired and weary as they were, they weremore cheerful and happy that night than they had been for monthspreviously, it seemed to them that the great barrier had been overcome,and they had safely passed the last fiery ordeal they should be calledto encounter. They felt as though the night had passed, and day wasdawning on their weary and forlorn prospects.
They were in no great hurry to be on their road the next morning, foron awaking they found themselves sore and stiff in their limbs, andtheir beasts' hoofs torn and swollen. Towards noon, however, muchrefreshed, they once more started, and after proceeding on theirjourney about two hours, they came to a dangerous pass--the path beingnot over three feet wide, steep, and difficult of descent.[15] DirectingSidney, Jane, and Edward ahead, Howe and Jones began the descent withthe horses; when in the most difficult place, one of the animals becamerestive, and rearing, was precipitated below, dragging Jones, who hadhold of the bridle, with him. One terrible cry of distress was heard asthe horse went over the side, and then a crash on the jagged rocks, andthe noble beast was dashed to atoms two hundred feet below them.Frightened at the plunge and cries of mortal anguish, the rest of thehorses broke, and bounded wildly down the path. Howe, seeing he couldnot control them, sprang close to the wall of rock, thus saving himselffrom being crowded over the abyss by the terrified beasts who, in theirheadlong career, heeded nothing before them. As they came to a sharpangle in the trail, as it wound down the mountain, the two foremosthorses, instead of turning, plunged over the side, and with a neigh ofterror, were soon crushed, like their companion, on the rocks in thedeep abyss below. The others seeing the two disappear, pausedsufficiently to avert the danger, and turning the angle, landed safelyon the table, where the children had preceded them.
[15] Since 1840 this pass over the Sierra has been abandoned, and one far easier and less difficult discovered twenty miles below it. It was originally used by the Indians, as the shortest route to the valley beyond.
Terrified at seeing the horses without Howe and Jones, they hastened upthe mountain to where the first catastrophe had occurred, and arrivedin time to see their uncle assist Jones into the path from a juttingrock a few feet below, where he had landed in no wise hurt, with theexception of a few bruises. The rock that had caught him was but a fewfeet broad, and it was nearer a miracle that he was not dashed to thebottom of the abyss than we are accustomed to experience. The poorbeas
t was a pitiful sight to look upon, and at a glance at his mangledbody they turned sickened away. The other two had also been crushedinstantly and lay lifeless where they had fallen. Thankful for theirown escape, yet grieving for the fate of their faithful animals thathad been through so many privations with them, they encamped on thebroad table below, where they found a spring of pure water and plentyof grass for their two remaining horses.
The next day as they were wending their way slowly along, they came toa range of walls so singular in their conformation as to make thempause in their journey to examine them. On a broad table, girt in oneither side by the rocky fortresses of the Sierra, a column arosetwenty feet long and sixteen wide at the base, diminishing as it roseto a height of thirty feet so as to leave the top eight by twelve feetin dimensions. This column was ascended by a flight of steps, regularand perfect in their construction. They were not long in ascertainingthis to be a work of art, and perhaps for centuries on centuries it hadstood there defying the elements, and was even now as solid andperfect, with every block of granite in its place, as when first laid.
"This is the work of the ancestors of the old man of Lake Superior,"said Howe, thoughtfully.
"Perhaps the savages he told you of, whom he said inhabited themountains built it," returned Jane.
"It was never built by a people destitute of the arts and sciences.Mark the accuracy with which each stone is made to fit its place, hewnand polished until it is as smooth as marble. Note also the cement inwhich it is laid, black and hard as glass, like that in which thetemple was laid where we spent our first winter. No, no; depend uponit, a civilized people have been here centuries before our forefathersever heard of this continent."
A cry of astonishment from Edward who had ascended to the summit,called their attention there also. Gaining the top, they found on thecentre, raised on blocks of granite, a foot from the smooth floor, aheavy slab of granite six feet long and two wide and six inches thick,elaborately carved on the edges, the design being entwined serpents,the heads laying over the ends with closed mouths and open eyes. Theywere represented as being scaly, and each scale was chiseled with somestrange device, all differing in shape and finish. On this slab lay aflint, the edges sharp, hollowed into a slightly oval form, being madeinto a sharp and thin scoop with the shape of a shell. By its side laya stone mallet perfect also in its finish. With feelings of awe theyleft this memento of the unknown past, and pursued their journey.
The rest of the descent they found comparatively easy, and they wereonce more where birds sang and flowers bloomed, game roamed, andsavages prowled. Making easy journeys, in a few days they hailed withjoy a clearing which they saw was inhabited. The owner proved to be aCreole missionary from a Spanish settlement below, who had beenstationed there to look after the spiritual welfare of the Indians, andwho received our wanderers with great kindness. When they told him whoand what they were, the benevolent curate, like a good christian,insisted they should make his domicil their home until they heard fromtheir friends. This offer they gladly accepted; and in exchange fortheir gold which fascinated the pious man's eyes in a wonderful degree,they obtained some clothing, and when once more dressed in the garb ofcivilization, they began to think their wanderings were indeed over.