I S'.»2 



in.lOAMNCS IN HHE CUI/miH. 



mt'iiiis of siiniii^; up soiin' '^iood hrollicr to come 

 u> tlu'ir aid and to give thciu a littl<> bit of 

 pioiiiid on wliicli to looati' a Icnioiiadi'-staiid. 1 



A I'KOKISIOX OF SMAKTWKKD. 



Tilt' season lias bj^cn a srood ono Ihto sti fai' as 

 clover was concerned: but the bees were not 

 gotten into shape before tlie honey crop, and, 

 as a result, the supers an- enii)ty. Hees will 

 winter well, tor there has l)een the greatest pro- 

 fusion of sniartweed lilonm in ten years, almost 

 all colonies laying up enough stores, and in 

 some instances a little surplus. 



Alexandria. Iiid. E. E. Edwakds. 



My report for the pa.st season is. iKXX) lbs. from 

 KK) colonies— a poor season in California. 

 Riverside, Cal., Aug. \2. H. E. Wii.dek. 



KAMHI.ER. 



What makes Rambler look so pleased? I see 

 he has lost a tooth. Was it in climbing the 

 mountains? Has he got a m-w hat? It looks 

 like one. but he has the same trousers and um- 

 brella. Whafs that he is holding in his hands? 

 Oh. yes! a camera, and a book and pen to take 

 the notes of travel. R. L. Rhodes. 



Mimtville. O.. Oct. t3. 



Hees are working all the winter when not 

 raining. B 'St report (authentic) last season, 

 (V40 lbs. from one colony. Honey, extracted. 6 

 to y cts. ; comb, 12 to K) cts.: wax. '22 to 24. 



L. T. Chambkks. 



Melbourne. Australia. July 27. 



Notes of Travel 



FROM A. I. ROOT. 



THE EXCHANTED MOUNTAIN. 



Long before we reached Maricopa (a station 

 on the Southern Pacific Railroad where a short 

 branch road strikes otT into the desert to 

 Tempe and Ph<enix) 1 had lixed tny eye on a 

 strange and wonderful mountain away off in 

 the east. It seemed to rise abruptly from the 

 desert until it was well up in the clouds, and 

 then there was a level space — a sort of "mesa'' 

 — on the top; and from near tlie center of this 

 level space arose another smaller mountain, but 

 it looked more like the turrets and battlements 

 of some giant's castle than it did like the moun- 

 tains; and this uppermost central peak was, 

 of course, away up ami<i the clouds. As we 

 ?truck off toward Temix' I f<'lt sorry, for it 

 seemed as if we were going away from this 

 strange and grotesque mountain. But by and 

 by the road changed; and as the mountain 

 grew, and became larger and more imposing, I 

 began to be greatly interested in it. By and 

 by my curiosity would not permit me to kee|j 

 still longer: and when a passenger informed me 

 that the object of my attention was Supersti- 

 tion Moioitdin. I became as much excited as 

 was the Yankee. Vou see. he had been asking 

 a fellow-passengei- a great many questions, be- 

 cause tin- latter had only one leg. The stran- 

 ger finally turned to him and said: 



■'.My good sir. I will tell you how I lost my 

 leg if you will give me your promise not lo ask 

 me atiothei- ([uestion." 



The Yankee readily gave the promise; but 

 when he was t(»ld that the missing limb was 

 ■"bitoflfhe probably felt a good deal as I did 

 about the mountain. If I remember correctly, 

 he did make answer something as follows: 



"If I were not a man who nhrmis kcejis his 

 promises to the leiier. 1 sliould IVcl very much 

 like asking what sort of an animile it was that 

 did the bitin"." Therefore I immediately ven- 

 tured: 



" Will yon be so kind as to tell m(\ if yon can, 

 sir, ii'lijj they call that wonderful mountain Su- 

 perstition ?"" 



■'Well, I have never been tlieie. but I have 

 been told that, from time immemorial, the In- 

 dians refuse to go near it. much less to climb to 

 its rocky heights. They give, as a reason, that 

 st,range nois(>s ar(> always heard around its 

 base, and that those who have been bold enough 

 to climb up, report tliat tlie noises increase as 

 one goes up, and that strange flashes of fire flit 

 from cliff to clitT. One who was more daring 

 than all the rest kept on until he got up on to 

 that turr(!t that looks something like a winding 

 stair, and there the thunderings and lightnings 

 became so terrible that no mortal could stand 

 it " 



Of course, I was full of questions about Su- 

 perstition Mountain when I reached my broth- 

 ers: and I was greatly disgusted that they had 

 all lived so many years right in plain sight of 

 it. and not one of tlu'in had ever been so far as 

 to get even to the base. In order to satisfy my 

 inquiries they ref<'rred me to several personages 

 about town, and by and by I became considera- 

 bly acquainted with the minister, the doctor, 

 one of the lawyers, and even a shoemaker who 

 had been at least part way up the mounta.in. 

 There were inany different accounts of the won- 

 derful noises, and of the Indians" superstition 

 in regard to thi' strange peak. One informed 

 me that the ruins of an ancient city were to be 

 found away up on the summit. The shoemaker 

 said there were cliff dwellings near there, for 

 he had seen them; and an old ex-minister, who 

 probably knew more about the strange sur- 

 roundings of this weird country than almost 

 anybody else, told me that Gen. J. C. Fremont, 

 during the war with Mexico, had a regiment of 

 drilled Mexicans and Indians. Once upon a 

 time, to escape a fierce thunderstorm lie ordered 

 them into some of the numerous caves found in 

 and about the mountain. They obeyed orders 

 with fear and trembling, and an evident incli- 

 nation to break away from authority. But 

 Fremont was more than a match for savage 

 superstition until a thunderbolt of startling viv- 

 idness, followed by a fearful crash, shook the 

 mountain to its very summit. This was too 

 much for even the military drill of those chil- 

 dren of the desert. First a small band broke 

 away from authority. These, as soon as they 

 dared, gave vent to the Indian yell of terror, 

 and th(! whole regiment broke out into the 

 drenching storm, and could never be marshaled 

 together again. 



Now, if my imagination in the above has 

 supplied something which I could not exactly 

 remember, I hope you will forgive me. Almost 

 every one I invited to go with me to explore 

 .Superstition Mountain readily consented. Per- 

 haps they were interested in my I'lithusiasm if 

 not in the mountain: hut just aixiut as we had 

 got the program linished. the women-folks set 

 up a vigorous jirotest. I was an invalid, not 

 yet accustomed to camping outdoors, even in 

 that mild climate: and to go away off in the 

 wilderness where we might suffer from a lack 

 of food and water, or. possibly, be devoured by 

 •* w ild bi'astes." was a thing not to be thought 

 of. Besides, up around that turret it was all 

 ice and snow. Yes. the snow was right bt^fore 

 my eyes evfii while I declared I could not live 

 if I did not investigate the caves and wonderful 

 sights before going home. One after another 

 the party backed out, and sadly and sorrowful- 



