THE DUSKY GROUSE. 131 



known beyond the Eocky Mountains, south of the sixty- 

 fifth parallel. It is also replete with majestic scenery — 

 its snow-clad peaks, magnificent lakes, stupendous falls, 

 and mighty rivers comparing favorably with those of 

 Switzerland — while few regions can compete with it in 

 the density and extent of its sub-alpine forests, or in its 

 strange volcanic scenes, which are as unique as they are 

 awe-inspiring. During one of my rambles through 

 Idaho I was invited by a resident to accompany him to 

 an Indian reservation in the northern part of the Terri- 

 tory, where be was going on business. He promised 

 that, if I went with him, he would show me some of the 

 grandest scenery on the Continent, and give me an op- 

 portunity of enjoying such sport with rod and gun as I 

 had never dreamed of in my wildest flights of fancy. 



I accepted the invitation with the prom^jtest alacrity, 

 and managed to secure one for a companion named — 

 Smith will do — whose acquaintance I had made in a stage 

 coach wlnle travelling through the country. Smith — what 

 a convenient name for those who do not want to invent 

 one — was a capital fellow in many ways, but he had one 

 besetting sin of which no amount of lecturing would break 

 him, and that was punning. And such puns ! I often 

 wondered how he escaped with his life after torturing 

 people with them, for they were often vile enough to cause 

 an archbishop to think of murder. 



Smith was so delighted with the idea of rambling 

 through the region in the society of an experienced cice- 

 rone, and dipping his lines in pleasant waters — for he 

 was more of a Walton than a Nimrod, though nothing in 

 the shape of sport came amiss to him — that he indulged 

 in a dozen death-dealing puns m less than an hour after 

 the invitation was received. The morning appointed for 

 starting on our expedition found us awake with the sun, 

 and after dressing, and getting our implements of war in 

 good condition, we walked to my friend's house and 



