IS'.IJ 



liLi; \.\1N(;S IN KHI<: CULTURE. 



ever practice migratory bee-lvcepiufi it will be 

 to move bees from the valleys into the inoiiii 

 tains, thus i)i'olonjiiii}i the season. Many of 

 thesr i-anyons are well seeded to white sat^e and 

 wild hneUwheat. The latter plant continues 

 to blossom lor several months if there is enougii 

 moistnre in the earth to keep up it.-? develop- 

 ment. Many of these canyons are entirely 

 unoccupied except by many swarms of wild 

 bees, and are waiting foi' some enterprising 

 bee-keeper to step in and test tlicir value for 

 honey production. 



From this point our mode of travel was to be 

 changed: every thing for the next several miles 

 had to be packed on the backs of liorses. and 

 over a narrow mountain trail. .\ long way up 

 between the mountains we could see the pass 

 we should have to cross; and though it was 

 four o'clock we resolved to push on. Mr. Fer- 

 guson proved to be an expert at the pack-saddle 



blind. A "blind '■ trail is where short bushes 

 branch over it, completi^ly hiding it from view; 

 t)ut by entering at the right place, and pressing 

 through, the hranclics give way and tlic trail 

 is (>asily follosvcd; hut- a 1)1 ind trail becomes 

 indeed blind under forest-trees at night, and we 

 soon lost it entirely. While Mr. F. and myself 

 were peering here and there for it in the dark 

 we heard tiu' coo-cc of Mr. Wilder, who was 

 on ahead; and after exchanging shouts he gave 

 us the welcome news that h(^ had found water. 

 We stum hied over rotten logs, brush, and rocks, 

 and pitched our camp in a deep gulcli, near a 

 beautiful cold spring, and it was a rare good 

 fortune to find it, for springs have a way of 

 showing them^ielves for a fi-w yards and then as 

 suddenly dis;ii)pearing. Our camp-lire liglitcd 

 up the big pines. Our fatiguing forced march 

 gave us a good appetite for another water- 

 melon, and the horses had the rind. That niglit 



WIIITK W.VTER BASIX. 



business, and every thing was .soon packed 

 except a few watermelons. Mr. VV. looked at 

 them so afTectionately that a couple were pack- 

 ed, and the rest were left in nature's refriger- 

 ator, that ice-cold mountain stream, until our 

 return. Owing to the lati'ue.ss of the hour our 

 journey became a forced march, for the trail 

 was longer and steeper than we imagined. The 

 shades of night were, however, falling as w(> 

 crossed the pass and hurriedly plunged into the 

 next canyon. 



Our anxiety now was to find water and a 

 camping-place. Our trail was on a rapid down 

 grade, and in a forest of immense pine, cedar, 

 and fir trees, eight and ten feet in diameter. A 

 cedar in the basin, from actual measurement. 

 was 40 feet in circumference. As the shadows 

 became deeper we had some difficulty in keep- 

 ing the trail. There is so little travel in this 

 wilderness that the trail in many places is 



we had to make our bed on quite an incline, 

 and had no little fear of slipping out of bed feet 

 first. =3 



The light of another day revealed our lost trail 

 and also another pass to surmount. This was 

 easily accomplished, and we were looking down 

 into a deep and wild region known as White 

 Water Basin, the mo^t inaccessible portion of 

 the San Bernardino Mountains. Our descent 

 here in many places zigzagged down declivities 

 at an angle of 4.5 degrees; and here in this wild 

 gorge, witli no other ()utlet than over the nar- 

 row dilhcult trail we had travei-sed. some one 

 at some time had made an abortive effort to 

 build a rude sawmill: and the big wheel and 

 timbei-s looked specterlike in their wild sur- 

 roundings. A little beyond was an unoccupied, 

 well-ventilated shake cabin, and close at hand 

 an ice-cold stream of water, and for several 

 davs this was our headquarters. We ate our 



