Page:Rocky Mountain life.djvu/281

 to envelope them with thick coverings of buffalo robes, and even then the rapacious cormorants could scarcely be prevented from renewing their cruel repast.

Dec. 19th. Again resuming our journey, we continued in a southeast direction, over a low ridge of hills, and found ourselves in a very rough country, interspersed with frequent valleys which head several well timbered affluents of the Arkansas;—thence, passing around the southern extremity of a lofty mountain range, we struck Fontaine qui Bouit a few miles below the Soda spring.

Crossing this stream, we travelled north by west, following the mountain ridge at its base for some forty miles, which brought us to the Platte; —thence, keeping

the river bottom, on the 28th we made camp at Cherry creek, a short distance above its mouth.

The interesting and romantic country in the vicinity of Pike's Peak and Fontaine qui Bouit has already been described in full, and needs but one passing remark in attestation of the mildness of its climate, viz: the ground was free from snow, and afforded occasional spots of green grass. Near this place we encountered a small hunting party of Arapaho Indians, and obtained from them a choice supply of fresh meat.

The interval from the Soda spring to the Platte, after passing the high, towering and isolated walls of red granitic sandstone to the northward, betrays a mixed character of wildness and beauty. The vast forests of stately pines, surmounting the long rolling hills to the right, which are relieved as the traveller advances by high table lands and quadrangular-shaped eminences that disclose their bare sides, ever and anon graced with lateral cedars and dwarf oaks; and then the heaven-scaling summits that, in continuous chain, oppose an impregnable wall upon the left, unite to define a broad-spread of undulating prairie, some eight or ten miles wide, well watered and possessed of a good soil.

The prevailing rock of this section appeared to be sandstone and limestone, intermixed with conglomerates of various kinds.

I noticed two or three small ridges, several miles long, running parallel with the

mountains at regular distances, in an uninterrupted course, presenting continued

lines of thin strata planted vertically in their sharp crests, and reaching to an

elevation of thirty or forty feet, that, with broken fragments encumbering their

sides, looked like the half-fallen walls of some ancient fortification.

Among several affluents of the Platte from the right, we crossed Crystal creek, a stream which derives its name from the existence of crystal in its sandy bed. This creek is tolerably well timbered and possesses a rich bottom of variable width, producing at the proper season a luxuriant growth of vegetation.

Our horses being quite enfeebled from the fatigue of travel, we gladly availed ourselves of the presence of buffalo to prolong our stay at Cherry creek some ten days, and meanwhile found no difficulty in procuring a continued feast of good things from the dense herds that thronged the country upon every side.