132 AMEEICAK GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



were there introduced to Dr. Pillbox, a young physician 

 who was to form one of our party. When breakfast was 

 over, we took our seats in a large wagon drawn by two 

 sturdy cat/uses and started on our journey. We arrived 

 at our destination in due time, and after our host had 

 transacted his business, he turned the heads of the horses 

 for Coeur d'Alene Lake. This was before it was occu- 

 pied as a military post. Lake Coeur d'Alene, which is 

 one of the most charming bodies of water on the Conti- 

 nent, has a length of about twenty-five miles and a width 

 that varies from two to ten miles. It is surrounded by 

 a dense forest which grows to its verge, and is reflected 

 in the water with mirror-like fidelity. It has one outlet 

 called the Spokane River, which passes through some 

 very romantic scenery, and produces in its course several 

 beautiful cascades, the most important of which are the 

 Spokane Falls. This stream has a width of one hundred 

 and sixty yards at the outlet, and a depth of several feet, 

 so that it springs into life full grown. The water in both 

 the lake and the river is so clear that the bottom, which 

 is several fathoms down in the former, can be plainly 

 seen, while the movements of the tmy fishes may be 

 readily noted at night with the aid of a hunting or fish- 

 ing lamp. 



We pitched our tent on one of the promontories, as this 

 gave us a magnificent view of the lake and the fir and 

 pine-clad mountains which stretched back of it in roll 

 after roll until they vanished in the dim distance. 

 These mountains rise abruptly from tlie water, there be- 

 ing scarcely any break between them, except the debris 

 washed down by rains and floods, and that is of so little 

 consequence, comparatively speaking, that the lake may 

 be said to be buried in the summit of the mountains. It 

 looks as if it occupied the bed of an old crater, for the 

 region surrounding it shows violent igneous action, and 

 the ground is so hard that no water can be found ten feet 



