noon
There are forests in that country , through which a man accustomed to them can scarcely make a league in a day . Still , Nasmyth crossed the divide , struggling against a bitter wind , and then went down the other side , floundering over fallen branches , and smashing through thickets of undergrowth and brakes of willows . He wanted to find the river , and , more especially , the tree that bridged it , as soon as possible . It was , however , noon when he reached the river , and it frothed and roared a hundred feet below him in a smooth walled cañon , which had apparently kept the frost out , for there were only strips of crackling ice in the eddies . It was clearly out of the question for him to get down to the river , even if he had wished to make the descent , and without stopping to make another fire , he plodded along the bank until the afternoon was almost spent . There were a good many fallen trees , as he discovered to his cost , since each one had to be painfully clambered over , but none of them spanned the chasm . Then , as his foot was becoming very sore , he decided to camp where a big cedar lay across a little ravine that rent the bank .