TWO-OCEAN PASS. 185 



small springs at the borders of the meadow would be stronger ; 

 but the important facts are that there is no lake or even marsh 

 there, and that neither Atlantic nor Pacific Creek has its rise in 

 the meadow. Atlantic Creek, in fact, comes into the pass as two 

 good-sized streams from opposite directions, and leaves it by at 

 least four channels, thus making an island of a considerable 

 portion of the meadow. And it is certain that there is, under 

 ordinary circumstances, a continuous waterway through Two- 

 Ocean Pass of such a character as to permit fishes to pass easily 

 and readily from Snake River over to the Yellowstone, or in the 

 opposite direction. Indeed, it is possible, barring certain falls in 



Diagram showing Relation of Streams in Two-Ocean Pass. 



Snake River, for a fish so inclined to start at the mouth of the 

 Columbia, travel up that great river to its principal tributary, the 

 Snake, thence on through the long, tortuous course of that stream, 

 and, under the shadows of the Grand Tdtons, enter the cold wa- 

 ters of Pacific Creek, by which it could journey on up to the very 

 crest of the Great Continental Divide to Two-Ocean Pass ; through 

 this pass it may have a choice of two routes to Atlantic Creek, in 

 which the down-stream journey is begun. Soon it reaches the 

 Yellowstone, down which it continues to Yellowstone Lake, then 

 through the lower Yellowstone out into the turbid waters of the 

 Missouri. For many hundred miles it may continue down this 

 mighty river before reaching the Father of Waters, which will 

 finally carry it to the Gulf of Mexico a wonderful journey of 

 nearly six thousand miles, by far the longest possible fresh-water 

 journey in the world. 



VOL. XLVII. 16 



