Chapter 44 - Page 2

smoke has been seen curling up out of the secret glen, or

has been scented by the savages, whose sense of smell is almost

as acute as that of sight. Sometimes they are pounced upon when

in the act of setting their traps; at other times, they are

roused from their sleep by the horrid war-whoop; or, perhaps,

have a bullet or an arrow whistling about their ears, in the

midst of one of their beaver banquets. In this way they are

picked off, from time to time, and nothing is known of them,

until, perchance, their bones are found bleaching in some lonely

ravine, or on the banks of some nameless stream, which from that

time is called after them. Many of the small streams beyond the

mountains thus perpetuate the names of unfortunate trappers that

have been murdered on their banks.

A knowledge of these dangers deterred Captain Bonneville, in the

present instance, from detaching small parties of trappers as he

had intended; for his scouts brought him word that formidable

bands of the Banneck Indians were lying on the Boisee and Payette

Rivers, at no great distance, so that they would be apt to detect

and cut off any stragglers. It behooved him, also, to keep his

party together, to guard against any predatory attack upon the

main body; he continued on his way, therefore, without dividing

his forces. And fortunate it was that he did so; for in a little

while he encountered one of the phenomena of the western wilds

that would effectually have prevented his scattered people from

finding each other again. In a word, it was the season of setting

fire to the prairies. As he advanced he began to perceive great

clouds of smoke at a distance, rising by degrees, and spreading

over the whole face of the country. The atmosphere became dry and

surcharged with murky vapor, parching to the skin, and irritating

to the eyes. When travelling among the hills, they could

scarcely discern objects at the distance of a few paces; indeed,

the least exertion of the vision was painful. There was evidently

some vast conflagration in the direction toward which they were

proceeding; it was as yet at a great distance, and during the day

they could only see the smoke rising in larger and denser

volumes, and rolling forth in an immense canopy. At night the

skies were all glowing with the reflection of unseen fires,

hanging in an immense body of lurid light high above the horizon.

Having reached Gun Creek, an important stream coming from the

left, Captain Bonneville turned up its course, to traverse the

mountain and avoid the great bend of Snake River.