At about five o'clock I was awakened by the sun, whose oblique beams were able to reach me through the trees. I felt refreshed and strong, made Czar get up, saddled, and followed the stream, which led me to the river I had seen in the morning. I approached the valley cautiously when I rode out of the mountain gorge, and carefully surveyed it with my glass, without finding a trace of the Indians anywhere. It was very important for me to know whether they had gone up or down the river; the latter was the more probable, because most of the buffalo herds I had seen lately were going southward, and the savages, as a rule, follow these animals. As the banks of the river were not high, I rode into it, watered my horse, and without any difficulty reached the other side, when I was soon on the path of the Indians, who had gone south, as I expected. I rode up this trail northwards, in order, if possible, to reach before sunset some stream coming from the mountains, as I would not pass the night where I was, for it appeared to be a pass greatly used by Indians, so that I ran greater danger here of meeting fresh hordes than I did among the hills. I rode very quickly, and at sunset turned into a narrow valley, bordered on either side by very lofty precipices. For about two miles I followed the torrent which wound through loose blocks of granite, and frequently could scarce get through the tall ferns and reedy plants which grew between the wildly scattered boulders. The gorge gradually became narrower and the granite walls steeper, and in the twilight I saw the end of it no great distance from me.