At three o'clock, as we were about to resume our journey, there came on a gentle shower of rain, with wind at east, and low broken clouds. In the afternoon we passed some small ridges of sandstone crossing the river from north to south, but very inconsiderable in point of elevation and extent. We travelled this day twenty-seven miles, directly towards the base of the mountains, but they appeared almost as distant in the evening as they had done in the morning. The bearing of the high peak above mentioned, from our encampment, was south, 75° west. {179} The ensuing day being Sabbath, was devoted to rest. About our camp, which was in the most fertile spot we could select, in a ride of several miles, there was but a very insufficient supply of grass for our horses. A species of cone flower, (rudbeckia columnaris, N.) was here beginning to expand. The showy R. purpurea, very common on the Missouri, and the lower part of the Platte, does not extend into the desolate regions. The common purslane (portulacca oleracea) is one of the most frequent plants about the base of the Rocky Mountains, particularly in places much frequented as licks by the bisons and other animals. From this encampment, we had a plain but still distant view of the mountains. No inequality occurs in the surface of the subjacent country on the east of the mountains, so that our view was wholly unobstructed. They stretched from north to south like an immense wall, occupying all that portion of the horizon lying to the north-west, west, and south-west. We could now see the surface of the plain, extending almost unvaried to the base of the first ridge, which rises by an abrupt ascent above the commencement of the snow. A set of observations for longitude was commenced in the morning, but the weather becoming cloudy, we were prevented from completing them. In the afternoon a storm came on from the north, which continued during the night. Much rain fell, accompanied with thunder and high but variable winds. Between twelve o'clock and sunset, the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer fell nineteen degrees, from 89° to 60°. 3d. Breakfast was despatched, and we had mounted our horses before five o'clock. We were enabled to have our breakfast thus early, as the sentinel on duty during the night, was directed to put the kettles over the fire at three o'clock, all the processes preparatory {180} to boiling having been finished on the preceding evening. As we approached the mountains, wood became much more abundant along the Platte. We had often heard our guide, in speaking of the country, two or three days' journey from the mountains, mention the Grand Forest, and were a little surprised on arriving at it, to find no more than a narrow but uninterrupted stripe of timber, extending along the immediate banks of the river, never occupying the space of half a mile in width.