ON THE PRAlh 179 



forms, however. The nutcracker, a large, 

 noisy, crow-like bird, with many of the 

 habits of a woodpecker, was common, and 

 in the rocks above timber line, we came upon 

 the Little Chief hare, a wee animal, with a 

 shrill, timorous squeak. 



During our stay upon the mountains the 

 weather was generally clear, but always cold, 

 thin ice covering the dark waters of the 

 small mountain tarns, and there were slight 

 snow-falls every two or three days ; but we 

 were only kept in camp one day, when it 

 sleeted, snowed, and rained from dawn till 

 nightfall. We passed this day very com- 

 fortably, however. I had far too much fore- 

 thought to go into the woods without a small 

 supply of books for just such occasions. We 

 had rigged the canvas wagon sheet into a 

 tent, at the bottom of the ravine, near the 

 willow-covered brink of the brook that ran 

 through it. The steep hill-sides bounding 

 the valley, which a little below us became 

 sheer cliffs, were partly covered with great 

 pines and spruces, and partly open ground 



