, 1853-08-06

! CoInt ot the state ui their provisions for
what witl III, loss sustained,iu fordmg The
river, and in consumption, they Were o.
| liecl To al'p; an allowance.
On the > th, they departed at carly dawn,
Z in oder 10 ta&' advantage of ih Grmuc.S
of lh. snow, oecasionrG ~ tie las, nights
lro,t They assembled rapidly, and passed
| over he worst Of he way, the horses sink
ia. no deeper than th.ir ftlocks. They
+ inst passed owe: narrow ridge, and then a
succession OF small cones, until they reach
| cl the summit.
Mount Rainier, from the top, botc south
south west, apparently not more Than ten
miles dislart A profile of The mountain
indicates that it has terminal crater, as
well as some on lis Aanks. The barometer
stood at 2l.95O in. five thousand and nine
ty-lwo feet. There was another. to the
north north cast, covered with snow, and
one to the west appearcd.about two hundred
feet higher than the place where the obser-
yaiions were taken. This latter had suffer
ed from fire in the same way as La Icte,
and showed only few patches Of snow.-
To the eastward, 4 range Of inferior height,
running north and south, was in view, with
ou, snow.
On the western ascent Of this mountain,
the pines were scrubby; but on the summit,
which was plain, about mile in length
by half mile wide, they were straight and
towering, about eighty feet in height, with
out any limbs or foliage, except at the top.
The distance travelled over the top was
about five miles. On descending the east
side, the snow was much deeper and softer,
but the horses managed TO get along well,
and without accident.
Lieutenant Johnson, in following the par
iy, missed the trail, and lost his way for
three or four hours. On discovering the
camp Of those who had gone before, on the
opposite side Of a stream, he attempted to
cross it on log, in doing which lis foo,
slipp,d, and he was precipiIatcd into the
water. Although his first thought was to
save the chyouometer from accident, it was
too late, for the watch had stopped il was
not, however, so far injured as not 10 be set
a-gong, and it continued to 90 during the
remainder Of the journey: the only USE
have byen able 10 make of his subsequent
observations, was to obtain the relative me-
ridian distances between tn, points visited,
without the absolute longitude. It's need
less to say, that placed little or no depcn-
dcnce on III m, in constructing the map. ..
Although the horses had, with one or two
exceptions, reached the eastern side Of the
mountain, yet lhay, together with the lndi
ans, were very much exhausted. The time
had now come when the Indians. according
to agreement, were To be paid of, and they
had done much more than they agccd TO do,
avlng crossed the mountain twice.
Finding the necessity Of retaining all the
blankets that had b,en brought with them,
in order to buy horses, Lieutenant Johnson
| propo.ed TO the Indians to receive an order
IN Nisqually, in lieu Of the immediate de-
livery Of the blankets THIS they readily
sss3nted to, and also Willingly gave up those
that had already been paid them, on receiv-
ing a similar orlcr,-thas showing a spirit
Of accommodation highly praiseworlhy.-
Only two Of them returned to Nisqually, to
whom were entrusted the botanical speci-
mems, and the care of the horses lett upon
the road
The banks Of the small streams on the
eastern side Of the mountain were bordered
with the greatest variety of trees and shrubs,
consisting vi poplars, buckthom fifty feet
high, dogwood thirty to forty feet high, sew.
eral species of willow, alder, two species of
maple, and occasionally view. The un-
dergrowth was composed oil Hazel, Naccin-
ium, Gaullhera, and prickly species Of
lalla. The herbaceous shrubs were Good,
p, Neottia, Viola, Claylonia, Coralorrhi.
~. The latter, however, we've not in flow
er.
The party on foot, after leaving the Little
Prairie about half a mile, crossed the noith
ern branch Of the Smaloeho, which was
found much swollen Ond very rapid. Two
trees were cut down to form O bridge. AZ,
ter this, the walking through the forest BE-
came smooth and firm, and they passed on
at rapid pace The lndans- although
loaded with ninety pounds Of Baggage, kept
mp with the rest. At nightlall they en-
cawprd at the margin Of the snow.
On lighting their fires, they accidentally
SET FIRE 10 the mnss-c covered Trees, and in a
few moment, all around lhsm was a blazing
mass of fama, which compelled them 10
change their quarters farther to windward.
They had made eighteen miles. But few
plants were found, the season being too ear.
ly for collecting at so high an elevation-.
The ground was covered with spruce-twgs,
which had apparently been broken off by
the weight OF the snow. The summit was
passed through an open space about twenty
acres in extent. This glade was surround
ed with dense forest Of spruce trees
There was no dangeri in walking except near
the young trees, which had been bent down
by the snow, but on passing these they often
broke through, aud experienced much diff
Guilty in eXtrcating themselves, particularly
| Ihe poor Indians. with ihcir henrv hnlhens.