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

the common grass-one Of the squaws pulling
several tufts, and eating il with apparent relish.
Seeing our surprise, she pointed to the horses;
bot we could no, well understand what she
meant, except, perhaps that what was good for
the one was good for the other.
"Towards evening we heard a weak shout
among the hills behind, and had the pleasure to
sec Mr. Preuss descending towards the camp.
Like ourselves he had travelled lo-dly 25 miles,
but had seen nothing Of Dcrosier. knowing,
on the dny he was lost. that ] vas determined
10 keep the river as much as possible, he had
NOT thought it necessary 10 follow the trail very
closely, but walked on, right and lefl, certain
10 find it somewhere along the river, searching
places to obtain good views Of the county,
Towards sunset he climbed down towards the
river to look for the camp but, finding no
trail. concluded that we were behind, and walk
ed back until night came on, when, being very
much fatigued, he collected drlt wood and made
large FIRE among the rocks. The next day
it became more serious, and he encamped again
alone thinking that We must have taken some
other course. To 20 back would have been
madness in his weak aid starved condition, aud
onward towards the valley was his only hope,
always in expectation Of reaching it soon. Ills
principal means Of subsistence were a few roofs,
which the hunters call sweet oniuns having
very little taste, but good deal Of nui.imeni,
growing generally in rocky ground, and requr
ing good deal Of labor 10 get, as he had only
pocket knife. Searching for these, he found
a nest of big ants, which he let run on his
hand, and stripped them off in his mouth these
had an agreeable acid taste. One Of the gleai-
est priyations was the want Of tobacco aud a
pleasant smoke al evening would have been a
relief which only voyageur could appreciate
lie tried the dried leaves of the live oak, know
ing that those Of other oaks were sometimes
used as a substitute; but these were too thick
and would not do. On the iih he made seven
or eight miles, walking slowly along the river,
avoiding as much as possible to climb the hills.
In little pools he caught some Of the smlles,
kind of frogs, which he swallowed not so much
in qualification of hunger, as in the hope Of
obtaining some strength. Scattered along the
river were old fre-places, where The Indians
had roasted muscles and acorns but though he
searched diligently, he did not there succeed in
finding either. He had collected fre-wood for
the night, when he heard at some distance from
the river the barking of what he thought were
two dogs, aud walked in that direction as quick.
ly as he was able, hoping to find there some
Indian hut, but met only two wolves and, in
his disappointment, the gloom of the forest was
doubled.
travelling the next day feebly down the
river, he found FIVE or six Indians at the huls
of which we have spoken some were painting
themselves black, and others roasting acorns
Being only one man, they did not run of, but
received him kindly, and gave him welcome
supply of roasted acorns. lie gave them his
pocket knife in return, and stretched out his
hand 10 one Of the Indians, who did not appear
to comprehend the motion, but jumped buck. as
If he thought he was about to lay hold Of him.
They seemed afraid Of him, no, certain as 10
what he was.
"Iravelling on he came to the place where
we had fonnd the squaws. Here he found our
FIRE still burning, and the tracks OF the horses.
The sight gave him sudden hope and courage
and, following as fast as he could, joined US at
evening.
"March Give continued on our road
through the same surprisingly beautiful coun-
Try, entirely unequalled for the pasturage of
stock by anything we had ever seen. In few
hours we reached large fork, the northern
branch Of the river, and equal in size TO that
which we had descended, Together they form
ed beautiful stream, 60 10 100 yards wide
which at first, ignorant Of the nature Of the
country through which that river ran, we took
TO be the Sacramento.
'We made an acorn meal a, noon, and hur-
ried on the valley being gay with flowers, and
some Of the banks being absolutely golden with
the California poppy (esehseholtsia erocea) Here
the grass was smooth aud green, and the groves
very open; the large oaks throwing broad
shade among sunny spots. Shortly afterwards
we gave shout at the appearance Oh little
bluff Of neaily bull: slo,. hauss with lass
windows. We ro3e up, but, 10 our disappoint-
ment, found only Indians. There was no APP
pearance Of cultivation, and We could see no
cattle, and we supposed The place had been
abandoned We now passed on more eagerly
than ever; the river swept round 10 large
bend 10 the right; the hills lowered down Gu
tirely; and, gradually entering broad valley,
we came unexpectedly into large Indian vii
lage, where the people looked clean, and wore
cotton shirts and various other articles Of dress.
They Immediately crowded around Us, and we
had the indispensable delight TO find one who
spoke little indifferent Spanish, bul Who al
first COMPOUNDED us by saying there were no
whites in the country; but just then well
dressed Indian came up, and made his saluia-
tons in very well spoken Spanish In answer
to our inquiries, he informed us that we were