SHASTA RAMBLES AND MODOC MEMORIES 



Arctic beauty and desolation, with their 

 blessings and dangers, all may be found here, 

 to test the endurance and skill of adventurous 

 chmbers; but far better than climbing the 

 mountain is going around its warm, fertile base, 

 enjoying its bounties Uke a bee circUng around 

 a bank of flowers. The distance is about a hun- 

 dred miles, and will take some of the time we 

 hear so much about — a week or two — but 

 the benefits will compensate for any number 

 of weeks. Perhaps the profession of doing good 

 may be full, but everybody should be kind at 

 least to himself. Take a course of good water 

 and air, and in the eternal youth of Nature 

 you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; 

 no harm will befall you. Some have strange, 

 morbid fears as soon as they find themselves 

 with Nature, even in the kindest and wildest 

 of her solitudes, like very sick children afraid 

 of their mother — as if God were dead and the 

 devil were king. 



One may make the trip on horseback, or in 

 a carriage, even ; for a good level road may be 

 found all the way round, by Shasta Valley, 



82 



