It  was  a  strange  place,  the  icy  rock  and  the  highest  peak
of  the  Rocky  mountains,  for  a  lover  of  warm  sunshine  and
flowers;  and  we  pleased  ourselves  with  the  idea  that  he  was
the  first  of  his  species  to  cross  the  mountain  barrier — a  solitarjr


170     uoL.  fhemont's  narrative  of

pioneer  to  foretell  the  advance  of  civilization.  1  believe  thai
a  moment's  thought  would  have  made  us  let  him  continue  his
way  unharmed ;  but  we  carried  out  the  law  of  this  country,
where  all  animated  nature  seems  at  war;  and,  seizing  him
immediately,  put  him  in  at  least  a  fit  place — in  the  leaves  of  a
large  book,  among  the  flowers  we  had  collected  on  our  way.
