horses down it. "It
was all so straight and aisy."

We entreated them to let the women and children remain behind. With a
bad grace they consented, charging us to bring them on to Californy
after them. On they went. The descent was tolerably gentle for some
way. They looked round laughing at us, cracking their whips. However,
steeper and steeper it grew, and faster and faster they went, till,
dashing on at a terrific speed, they were hidden from our sight.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

SAD FATE OF THE POOR LEARYS--GRIEF OF THE MOTHER AND SISTERS--WE GO IN
SEARCH OF THE MISSING ONES--FIND THEM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RAVINE--THE
BURIAL--WILD SCENE--RETURN TO CAMP--GO ON A SPORTING EXPEDITION--MY
BATTLE WITH THE HAWKS--VERY NEARLY BEATEN--SHORT COMES TO THE RESCUE--
CONSEQUENCES OF INDULGING IN A FIT OF ROMANCE ON A JOURNEY--GO TO SLEEP,
AND FIND THAT MY ONLY COMPANION IS A HUGE RATTLESNAKE.

I was describing our passage down the western slopes of the Rocky
Mountains, our worthy companion Pat Leary having taken it into his head
that he had discovered a much more rapid way of reaching the bottom than
the slow one which the rest of our party thought it prudent to pursue.
As we stood on the platform immediately above the slope he had taken, we
saw him dashing on at a furious speed not at all conscious of the danger
he was running. As his wife and daughters, however, saw his rapid
descent, they became so, and screamed out for him to stop. He was a
great favourite with us all, in spite of a few eccentricities, for he
was a capital fellow in the main; and had he not been so, the cries of
the women would have made us anxious for his safety.

Obed and I, who were in advance of the rest of the party, could not
resist the temptation of setting off to see what had become of him and
to render him any assistance in our power. Leaving our wagon,
therefore, in charge of two lads, we ran down the slope of the mountain
as fast as our legs would carry us. On we went till we were almost done
up, but the only sign of the Learys were the ruts which their wagon
wheels had made in the softer spots on the mountain side; often they
approached fearfully near the edge of the precipice on the left, and
then apparently the animals, seeing the danger, had inclined again to
the right. We were already carried much farther down the mountain than
we intended, and began to repent having come, and to think of our long
climb up again, when we saw, a