science--and the subject of reports in relation to lakes,
rivers, deserts, and savages, hardly above the condition of
mere wild animals, which inflamed desire to know what this
_terra incognita_ really contained. It was a serious
enterprise, at the commencement of winter, to undertake the
traverse of such a region, and with a party consisting only
of twenty-five persons, and they of many nations--American,
French, German, Canadian, Indian, and colored--and most of
them young, several being under twenty-one years of age.

"All knew that a strange country was to be explored, and
dangers and hardships to be encountered; but no one blenched
at the prospect. On the contrary, courage and confidence
animated the whole party. Cheerfulness, readiness,
subordination, prompt obedience, characterized all; nor
did any extremity or peril and privation, to which we were
afterward exposed, ever belie, or derogate from, the fine
spirit of this brave and generous commencement.

"The course of the narrative will show at what point, and for
what reasons, we were prevented from the complete execution
of this plan, after having made considerable progress upon it,
and how we were forced by desert plains and mountain ranges,
and deep snows, far to the south and near to the Pacific
Ocean, and along the western base of the Sierra Nevada; where,
indeed, a new and ample field of exploration opened itself
before us."

From these quotations it is evident that Frémont had no idea of
entering California at this time. He was simply driven to it by