The Creating of Game Refuges 



tion of forest country. From the top of Mt. 

 Whitney, the highest bit of land in the United 

 States, exclusive of Alaska, one looks down two 

 miles in altitude to Owen's Lake almost directly 

 beneath. I picked up, on the plateau of the sum- 

 mit, a bit of obsidian Indian chipping, refutation 

 in itself of the frequently repeated statement that 

 Indians do not climb high peaks. A month was 

 spent with great profit in and about the Sierra 

 Reserve, and one might go there many summers, 

 ever learning something new. 



Having seen these southern reserves, and desir- 

 ing to bring home with me an impression of the 

 northern woods, sharpened by immediate contrast, 

 I next visited that one which is the most to the 

 northwest of them all, the Olympic Reserve in 

 Washington. Here, at the head of the Elwha 

 Valley, near Mt. Olympus, we lived among the 

 glaciers. The forest between the headwaters and 

 the sea affords a superb contrast to California; 

 here are found fog and moisture, and super- 

 abounding heavy vegetation. In the thick shade 

 grow giant ferns of tropic luxuriance. The 

 rhododendron thrives, its black glossy leaves a 

 symbol of richly nourished power. The devil's 

 club flaunts aloft its bright berries, and poison- 

 ously wounds whomsoever has the misfortune 



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