"Gently, so ho," was the word. On moved the wagon. Obed and I went to
the horses' heads. It was ticklish work with all our care. Downward we
slid. Often we could scarcely keep our own footing. I was very glad, I
know, when we reached the bottom of the first descent. We had several
more, however, to accomplish. Others, seeing our success, came
following with the same caution, and succeeded as well. All but one
party, a family of Irish emigrants, agreed that our plan was the only
safe one. Pat Leary, however, and his sons, and sons-in-law, and wife,
and daughters, and daughters-in-law, for though the eldest was not
twenty, they were all married, cried out lustily against our
proceedings.
"Arrah, now, why are ye afther bothering so long on the side of the
mountain?" exclaimed Leary the elder. "Jist let the wagons now take an
aisy slide down by themselves, they'll raich the bottom safe enough.
Don't ye see no harm has come to any one of them yet, at all, at all?"
"For the very reason, friend Leary, because we have taken proper
precautions to prevent an accident," observed Mr Ragget, who had
adopted a peculiarly sententious tone in speaking to Pat, a great
contrast to the other's rapid style of utterance.
Pat was not to be convinced. One of the longest and steepest of the
descents lay before us. On one side was a precipice of some six or
seven hundred feet in depth. Pat insisted on leading the way. He and
his boys were certain that they could trot their horses down it. "It
was all so straight and aisy."
We entreated them to let the women and children remain behind. With a
bad grace they consented, charging us to bring them on to Californy
after them. On they went. The descent was tolerably gentle for some
way. They looked round laughing at us, cracking their whips. However,
steeper and steeper it grew, and faster and faster they went, till,
dashing on at a terrific speed, they were hidden from our sight.