Fitzpatrick, and make a reconnaissance. The result won by this prompt measure imbued the whole party with fresh energy. From the summit of a peak ten miles from the camp, a view was obtained of a low range of mountains, which could be none other than those of the coast of California. Between the explorers, then, and this sea-board chain lay the valley of the Sacramento, and, when they eagerly scanned the intervening space with glasses, the course of a river could be made out, with dots of prairie land on either side.
Another six days of struggle with ice and snow, and the camp was pitched on the summit of the pass, 2,000 feet higher than that of the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, in the dividing ridge of the Sierra Nevada, and in N. lat. 38° 44´, W. long. 120° 28´. Thus, for the first time, was revealed to the white man of modern days the phenomenon of a range of mountains at the extremity of the continent higher than the great Rocky Mountains themselves. The existence of the Great Basin was accounted for, and it was evident that here too there must be a system of small, land-locked lakes and rivers which the Sierra Nevada forever prevents from escaping to the Pacific Ocean.
The mountain barrier was conquered at last, and, descending the western slopes, with hearts beating high with hope and triumph, the heroes soon struck the waters of a river which turned out to be the American fork of the Sacramento. Following it through a beautiful and fertile country, they came, on the 6th March, to Sutter's Fort, outside which they were met by its owner and founder, who, as will readily be imagined, gave them an enthusiastic welcome.
Thus ended one of the most romantic and perilous journeys ever made in the United States. For the first time, the Sierra Nevada had been crossed by white men, and for the first time, the existence of an overland route between the East and the West had been proved.
The remainder of the trip to the sea, through the beautiful valley of the San Joaquin, though interesting, was tame in comparison with the transit of the mountains. After approaching the now well known Bay of San Francisco, Fremont made his way back by a more southerly and less difficult route than in his westward journey to the Great Basin, again visiting the Salt Lake of Utah, and making acquaintance with many a fine specimen of the southern branch of the great Shoshone family.
Toward the close of May, the Great Salt Lake was left behind, and a fort-
