When we reached the summit, we were enveloped in
clouds, and the rain was falling copiously, and a wintry blast drove
the cold element to our skins. Crossing this mountain three or four
miles, we descended its sleep sides, and entered another beautiful and
romantic hollow, divided as it were into various apartments by short
ranges of low conical hills, covered to their summits with grass and
wild oats. The grass and other vegetation on the level bottom are very
rank, indicating a soil of the most prolific qualities. In winding
through this valley, we met four Indians on foot, armed with long bows,
and arrows of corresponding weight and length, weapons that I have not
previously seen among the Indians. Their complexions were lighter than
those of the _rancheria_ Indians of California. They evidently belonged
to some more northern tribe. We stopped them to make inquiries, but
they seemed to know nothing of the country, nor could we learn from
them from whence they came or where they were going. They were clothed
in dressed skins, and two of them were highly rouged.
Ascending and descending gradually over some low hills, we entered
another circular valley, through which flows a stream, the waters of
which, judging from its channel, at certain seasons are broad and deep.
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