drive their horses at night, and sleep in these natural defences perfectly
secure from any attack of prowling savages. Before reaching our camp at
Goshen's hole, in crossing the immense detritus at the foot of the Castle
rock, we were involved amidst winding passages cut by the waters of the
hill; and where, with a breadth scarcely large enough for the passage of a
horse, the walls rise thirty and forty feet perpendicularly. This
formation supplies the discoloration of the Platte. At sunset, the height
of the mercurial column was 25.500, the attached thermometer 80 deg., and wind
moderate from S. 38 deg. E. Clouds covered the sky with the rise of the moon,
but I succeeded in obtaining the usual astronomical observations, which
placed us in latitude 41 deg. 40' 13", and longitude 104 deg. 24' 36".

15th.--At six this morning, the barometer was at 25.515 the thermometer
72 deg.; the day was fine, with some clouds looking dark on the south, with a
fresh breeze from the same quarter. We found that in our journey across
the country we had kept too much to the eastward. This morning,
accordingly, we traveled by compass some 15 or 20 to the west of north,
and struck the Platte some thirteen miles below Fort Laramie. The day was
extremely hot, and among the hills the wind seemed to have just issued
from an oven. Our horses were much distressed, as we had traveled hard;
and it was with some difficulty that they were all brought to the Platte,
which we reached at one o'clock. In riding in towards the river, we found
the trail of our carts, which appeared to have passed a day or two since.

After having allowed our animals two hours for food and repose, we resumed
our journey, and towards the close of the day came in sight of Laramie's
fork. Issuing from the river hills, we came first in view of Fort Platte,
a post belonging to Messrs. Sybille, Adams & Co., situated immediately in
the point of land at the junction of Laramie with the Platte. Like the
post we had visited on the South fork, it was built of earth, and still