70 CAMPING WITH THE PRESIDENT 



ency of my skis was all the time to diverge, and each 

 to go off at an acute angle to my main course, and I 

 had constantly to be on the alert to check this tend- 

 ency. 



Paths had been shoveled for us along the brink of 

 the Canon, so that we got the usual views from the 

 different points. The Canon was nearly free from 

 snow, and was a grand spectacle, by far the grandest 

 to be seen in the Park. The President told us that 

 once, when pressed for meat, while returning through 

 here from one of his hunting trips, he had made his 

 way down to the river that we saw rushing along 

 beneath us, and had caught some trout for dinner. 

 Necessity alone could induce him to fish. 



Across the head of the Falls there was a bridge of 

 snow and ice, upon which we were told that the coyotes 

 passed. As the season progressed, there would come 

 a day when the bridge would not be safe. It would 

 be interesting to know if the coyotes knew when this 

 time arrived. 



The only live thing we saw in the Canon was an 

 osprey perched upon a rock opposite us. 



Near the falls of the Yellowstone, as at other places 

 we had visited, a squad of soldiers had their winter 

 quarters. The President always called on them, looked 

 over the books they had to read, examined their house- 

 keeping arrangements, and conversed freely with 

 them. 



In front of the hotel were some low hills separated 

 by gentle valleys. At the President's suggestion, he 

 and I raced on our skis down those inclines. We had 

 only to stand up straight, and let gravity do the rest. 

 As we were going swiftly down the side of one of the 



