must
have come from this source: the distance is forty-five miles.

The dew, which in the early part of the night wetted the
saddle-cloths under which we slept, was in the morning frozen. The
plain, though appearing horizontal, had insensibly sloped up to a
height of between 800 and 900 feet above the sea. In the morning
(9th of September) the guide told me to ascend the nearest ridge,
which he thought would lead me to the four peaks that crown the
summit. The climbing up such rough rocks was very fatiguing; the
sides were so indented, that what was gained in one five minutes
was often lost in the next. At last, when I reached the ridge, my
disappointment was extreme in finding a precipitous valley as deep
as the plain, which cut the chain traversely in two, and separated
me from the four points. This valley is very narrow, but
flat-bottomed, and it forms a fine horse-pass for the Indians, as
it connects the plains on the northern and southern sides of the
range. Having descended, and while crossing it, I saw two horses
grazing: I immediately hid myself in the long grass, and began to
reconnoitre; but as I could see no signs of Indians I proceeded
cautiously on my second ascent. It was late in the day, and this
part of the mountain, like the other, was steep and rugged. I was
on the top of the second peak by two o'clock, but got there with
extreme difficulty; every twenty yards I had the cramp in the upper
part of both thighs, so that I was afraid I should not have been
able to have got down again. It was also necessary to return by
another road, as it was out of the question to pass over the
saddle-back. I was therefore obliged to give up the two higher
peaks. Their altitude was but little greater, and every purpose of
geology had been answered; so that the attempt was not worth the
hazard of any further exertion. I presume the cause of the cramp
was the great change in the kind of muscular action, from that of
hard riding to that of still harder climbing. It is a lesson worth
remembering, as in some cases it might cause much difficulty.

I have already said the mountain is composed of white quartz rock,
and with it a little glossy clay-slate is associated. At the height
of a few hundred feet above the plain, patches of conglomerate
adhered in several places to the solid rock. They resembled in
hardness, and in the nature of the cement, the masses which may be
seen daily forming on some coasts. I do not doubt these