Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1856-06-28

ans told him no men could cross m the vinici
which would have snow upou il as deep as
the trees, and places where people would slir
OF, and fall half a mile at a time "a fate
which actually befcl mule, packed with the
precious burden Of botanical specimens. collect.
ed along a travel Of two thousand milas. No
reward could induce an Indian TO heroine a
guide in the Perilous adventure of crossing this
mountain. All recoiled and fed from the ad-
venture. I, was attempted without guide
in the dead of winieT--aceomplished in forty
days-ihe men and surviving horscs-a ~oiul
procession, crawling along one BY one; skele-
ton men leading skeleton .horses-and arriving
at Suffers seitlemen, 10 the beautiful valley OF
the Sacramento and where a genial warmth,
and budding flowers, and trees in foliage, and
grassy ground. and flowing streams, aud CON-
furiahle food, made fsiry contrast with the
famine and freezing they had encountered. and
the lofty Sierra Nevada which they had climb
cd. Here he rested and recruiicd; and from
this point, and by way Of Monterey, the frs,
iidiugs were heard Of the party since leaving
FQr Vancouver.
"Anothsr long progress TO the south. skirt
ing the wesiern base Of the Sierra Nevada,
made him acquainted with the noble valley O.
the San joaquin. cooniepaiiio that Of the Sac
ramenio; when crossing through gap. and
turning TO the leG. be zklried the Great Basin;
and By many desiaiions from the liza line
home, levied iocessant contributions to science
from expanded lands, not described before. In
this eveniful exploration, ali the great features
Of the western slope Of our continent were
brought 10 lght-the Great Salt Lake, the
Ulah Lake, the Little Salt Lake; at all which
places, then deserts, the Mormons now are
the Sierra Nevada, thea solitary in the snow,
now crowded with Americans, digging gold
from its tanks the beautiful valleys Of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin, then alive with
wild horses, elk, deer, and wild fowls, now
smiling with American cultivation; the Great
Basin itself, and its contents the Three Parks I;
the approximation Of the great rivers which,
rising together in the central region Of the
Rocky Mountains, go OF east snd west, tow
ards the rising and the setting sun all these,
and other strange features OF new region.
more AsiaIie than American, were brought 20
light and revealed TO public view in the results
Of this exploration.
Eleven months he was never out of sight
Of snow sad sometimes, freezing with cold.
would look down upon sunny valley. warm
with eenial heat ;-sameiimes painting with the
summers heat, would look Up at the eternal
snows which crowned the neighboTing mountain.
But il was not then that California was secured
10 the union--io the greatest power Of the
New Woild-,o which it Of right belonged /;
bul il was the first step towards the acquisition.
and the one that led to il. That secoad expe-
dition led TO a third, jast in time To snatch the
golden California from the hands of the Brit
ish, ready 10 elaieh it, Bot Of this hereafter
Fremoui's second expedition was now over
He had leii the United States fugitive from
his government, and returned with name that
went over Eotope aud America, and with dis
eoveries bearing fruit which the civilized world
is now enjoying"
In order 10 give our readers a somewhat
clearer apprehension Of the fatigue, privaiions
and suferings which this band OF volunteer ad-
veDturers endured, we submit few extracts
from Mr.. FrelHonfs Journal Of the last Of the
eleven months that he was wandering in the
mountains, and during which period he had the
singular good fortune not to lose a man
january 2s.-To day we went through the
pass with all the camp, and, after a hard day s
journey Of Twelve miles, encamyed on n high
point where the sno~ had been blown oil, and
the exposed grass afforded seaniy pasture for
the animals. Snow and broken country to-
eeiher made our travelling difficult We we're
oilen compelled to make large ciIcuis, and as
cend the highest and most exposed ridges in or
der to avoid snow, which in other places was
banked up to grea, depth.
''To-night we did not succeed in getting the
howiizer into camp. This was the mos, labori-
Gus day we had We. passed through, the steep
aseents and deep snow exhansling both men aud
animals. Our single chronomeier had stopped
during the day, and its error in time occasioned
the loss OF an eclipse Of satellite this evening
II had no, preserved the rate with which We
started from the Dalles, and this will account
for the absence Of longiiudes along the interval
Of our journey.
"Jannary 29.-Several Indians appeared on
the hillside, reconnoitering the camp. and were
induced TO come in others came in during the
afternoon and in the evening we held coun-
ell. The Indians Immediately made il clear
that the water on which we were also belong to
the Great Basin, in the edge OF which we had
been since the 18th Of December and il became
evident that we had still the great ridge on the
leii to cross before we could reach the Pacific
waters.
"We explained to the Indians that we were
endeavoring TO ind passage across the noun
iains into the country Of the whites, whom we
were going 10 see and told them thar we wish
ed Them TO bring US guide, to whom we wo'd
give presents Of scarlet cloth, and other articles
which were shown to them. They looked at
the reward we offered, and conferred with each
other, but pointed 10 the snow on the moun-
tain, and drew their hands across their neck and
raised them above their heads, toshow the depth;
and signihed that il was impossible for US 10
get through. They made signs that we must
go 10 the souihward, over pass through low
er range, which they pointed out; there, they
said, at the end of one days travel, we would
g. -. =.