Our path was strewed with the whitened bones of horses and oxen, melancholy testimonies of the miseries endured by other travelers through these regions. We passed tl foot of Mt. Hood, the most elevated of this stupendous
chain. It is covered with snow, and rises T6,ooo [12,2251
feet above the level of the sea. Captain Wyeth, on beholding this ridge from the summit of the Blue Mountains,
thus speaks of it in his journal:" " The traveler on adcing westerly, even at the distance of 16o miles, beholds the peaks of the Cascade Mountains. Several of
them rise 16,ooo feet above the level of the sea. Every other natural wonder seems to dwindle, as it were, into ignificance when compared to this. From one single spot I contemplated seven of these majestic summits
tending from north to south, whose dazzling white and conic form resemble a sugar loaf."
We were twenty days going from the Willamette to Walla Walla, across desert and undulating lands, aboun ing in absinthitim, or wormwood, [sage brush] cactus, tufted grass, and several species of such plants and herbs as are chiefly found in a sterile and sandy soil. Game is scarce in these latitudes; however, we found large partridges and pheasants, aquatic fowls, small birds of various new kinds, hares and rabbits. Salamanders [horned toads?] swarm in sandy places, and armadilloes are not rare in the vicinity of the Great Dalles.
Fort Walla Walla is situated in latitude 46* 2', and Ion fade ij91 3o'. The sandy neighborhood of this settlement likens it to a little Arabia. The river Walla Walla discharges its waters a mile distant from the fort. The lowlands, when watered, are tolerably fertile, and produce
ize, barley, wheat, potatoes and pulse of every kind. ows and hogs are easily raised, and horses abound in this part of the country.
24 Father De Smet i; apparently in error here. At any rate, the quoted passage is not to be found in the published journal of Nathaniel J. NNlycth.