were getting too weak to carry anything. They found the snow
twenty feet deep in some places. The men had to make great mauls or
pounders to beat down the snow, to make a hard road on which the
animals could travel. Fremont's men now grew very hungry, for they had
little to eat except when they killed a starving mule or a dog.

At last the whole party reached the top of the mountains at a place
where they were nine thousand feet high. They had been three weeks in
getting to the top. They had yet the hard task of getting down on the
other side. But they could see the beautiful country of California
below them. They began to work their way down over the snow and rocks.

After some days Fremont took a party of eight men, and went on to get
provisions for the rest. But for a long distance he found no grass, and
his animals began to give out. One of his men grew so hungry and tired
that he became insane for a while. Another got lost from the party, and
found them only after several days. He told the rest that he had
suffered so much from hunger that he ate small toads, and even let the
large ants creep upon his hands so that he could eat them.

One day Fremont saw some Indian huts. The Indians ran away when they
saw the white men coming. Fremont found near these huts some great
baskets as big as hogsheads filled with acorns. Inside the huts he
found smaller baskets with roasted acorns in them. The men took about
half a bushel of these roasted acorns, and left a shirt, some
handkerchiefs, and some trinkets, to pay for them.

At last they came to a place where there were paths, and tracks of
cattle. The horses, having found grass to eat, grew strong enough for
the men to ride them. One day Fremont found some Indians, one of whom
could speak Spanish.

The Indian said, "I am a herdsman, and work for Captain Sutter."

"Where does he live?"

"Just over the hill. I will show you."

In a short time Fremont and his white men were at the house of Sutter.
But Captain Fremont rested only one night. The next morning he started
back with food for his starving men, who were coming on behind. The
second day after he left Sutter's he met his men.

They were a sad sight. They were all on foot. Each man was leading a
horse as weak and lean as he was himself. Many of the horses had fallen
off the rocks, and had been killed. Only half of the mules and horses
that had started over the mountains had lived to get across. As soon as
Fremo