CHAPTER XVI.
Sibille's-hole. Novel bitters. Chugwater. Gold. Curiosity. Affairs at the Fort. Amusements. Gambling among squaws, and games played. Squaw dresses, and riding fashion. Items of interest to the curious, proving the intercourse of the ancient Romans with the people of this continent.
ON resuming our course, we soon after struck into a lodge-trail leading to the Platte by way of Sibille's creek; —following this we travelled over an undulating and sandy prairie for about ten miles, and came to a chain of rugged mountains, bearing from north to south, through which we passed, by a tedious and circuitous route, for a considerable distance, winding among rocks and narrow defiles of naked hills, till we were finally ushered into a beautiful opening facing the east, known as Sibille's-hole.
This valley is situated at the confluence of two small streams, heading in the adjoining mountains, that unite to form Sibille's creek.
It is shut in upon three sides by lofty ridges, many hundred feet high, consisting of immense piles of earthy limestone and marl, whose rough, naked sides, ornamented with occasional dwarf-pines, cedars, or fruit-bearing shrubs, present a wild and romantic scenery.
The valley is four or five miles in length and of variable width, with a strong, black soil, affording a goodly supply of timber.
The season was further advanced in this than in any other place we had yet visited. Several specimens of wild flowers were in full bloom, belading the soft air with their sweetest odors. The grass too had attained a height of some three inches, and furnished a most sumptuous entertainment for our jaded animals, which they were nowise backward to accept.
Wishing to afford them an opportunity to recruit their strength, we remained encamped the two following days.
During the interval we were successful in killing two very fat bulls, and were thus enabled to renew the series of feasting which had graced the greater part of our journey.
I here became for the first time acquainted with a kind of beverage very common among mountaineers. The article alluded to may with much propriety be termed "bitters," as the reader will readily acknowledge on learning the nature of its principal ingredient.
It is prepared by the following simple process, viz: with one pint of water mix one-fourth gill of buffalo-gall; and you will then have before you a wholesome and exhilarating drink.
To a stomach unaccustomed to its use it may at first create a slightly noisome sensation, like the inceptive effects of an emetic; and, to one
