hard as wood, having much the taste and appearance of so many pieces of
bark. Even of this, our stock was rapidly diminishing in a camp which was
capable of consuming two buffaloes in every twenty-four hours. These
animals had entirely disappeared; and it was not probable that we should
fall in with them again until we returned to the Sweet Water.

Our arrangements for the ascent were rapidly completed. We were in a
hostile country, which rendered the greatest vigilance and circumspection
necessary. The pass at the north end of the mountain was greatly infested
by Blackfeet, and immediately opposite was one of their forts, on the edge
of a little thicket, two or three hundred feet from our encampment. We
were posted in a grove of beech, on the margin of the lake, and a few
hundred feet long, with a narrow _prairillon_ on the inner side,
bordered by the rocky ridge. In the upper end of this grove we cleared a
circular space about forty feet in diameter, and, with the felled timber,
and interwoven branches, surrounded it with a breastwork five feet in
height. A gap was left for a gate on the inner side, by which the animals
were to be driven in and secured, while the men slept around the little
work. It was half hidden by the foliage, and garrisoned by twelve resolute
men, would have set at defiance any band of savages which might chance to
discover them in the interval of our absence. Fifteen of the best mules,
with fourteen men, were selected for the mountain party. Our provisions
consisted of dried meat for two days, with our little stock of coffee and
some macaroni. In addition to the barometer and thermometer, I took with
me a sextant and spyglass, and we had of course our compasses. In charge
of the camp I left Bernier, one of my most trustworthy men, who possessed
the most determined courage.

12th.--Early in the morning we left the camp, fifteen in number, well
armed, of course, and mounted on our best mules. A pack-animal carried our