I/O In the United States vi 



over his own hole, with a short stick and a bit of 

 string, bobbing for the trout, who came up and 

 stared at us, and gasped, and blew bubbles at us in 

 the funniest manner. We caught scores ; but it was 

 horribly cold, the trout froze stiff as soon as they 

 were pulled out, and the lines were covered with 

 ice every few minutes, so that we had to roll them 

 under our feet to break it off. It was too cold 

 for bears ; there were lots of them in the moun- 

 tains, but they don't like the cold any more than 

 I do.' 



In the summer he wrote again to his daughter 

 from the same place : — 



'It is a fine day here, and as I sit I can look 

 across the flat country away to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, on the higher peaks of which the snow is still 

 lingering, gleaming wonderfully bright in the intense 

 sunshine. Vivid green willows and poplars and 

 aspens — the latter with a most delicate silvery 

 shimmer which shows off exquisitely against the 

 deeper tints of the others — fringe the river, and 

 away in the distance the pines stand out, black as 

 ink. There are lovely wild flowers, purple colum- 

 bines as large as roses, and, in the damp places, 

 glorious bright scarlet lilies. It is a beautiful place ; 

 but I really think that it is much grander in winter, 

 it seems smaller now, and the shadows of the granite 

 rocks look harsh and black against the sunlit spaces. 

 We are going to take our little tents up into the 

 mountains and hunt bears, which will be mighty 



