808 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



NOTES OF TRAVLL 



* BY A. I. ROOT. 



YELLOWSTONE PARK, CONTINUED. 

 I have before remarked that, on reaching 

 each new camp, I was very particular to find 

 out about the drinking-water; and at almost 

 every stopping-place I made friends with the 

 cook, and got permission to help myself from 

 the tea-kettle whenever I wanted a drink. 

 At Upper Geyser Basin, however, I found in 

 my tent, when I came to retire, a good fire in 

 a box stove, and a tin pail of very clean- 

 looking water on my wash-stand. I tried 

 some of the water to see if it would make 

 good soapsuds, making sure it was soft; and, 

 having been told they got all their water for 

 drinking and cooking at a soft-water spring 

 up in the woods, I naturally concluded this 

 must be that same pure spring water. So I 

 warmed some on the stove, and had a good 

 drink just before going to bed. I felt some- 

 what distressed during the night, but was up 

 by daylight, made a fire in my stove, and took 

 another drink of hot water. Then I looked 

 out of the door of my tent and saw our host 

 carrying two brimming pailfuls of water, 

 steaming hot, from a geyser near by. Yankee- 

 like I was inquisitive, and he informed me 

 that it was cheaper to bring hot water from 

 the boiling springs than to heat it on the 

 stoves. Besides, the spring water had to be 

 hauled quite a piece with a team. He filled 

 the pails with hot water all around the tents 

 just before the guests arose. Said I : 



"But will this geyser water wash nicely 

 with soap ? ' ' 



"Oh, yes! it washes beautifully. Didn't 

 you try it this morning in your tent? " 



Just then it occurred to me that I had taken 

 two big drinks of geyser water, thinking it 

 was soft water from the springs. But I ven- 

 tured one more question. 



" You say it is nice water to wash with; then 

 why is it not good to drink ? " 



" Oh! it won't do to drink at all. I suppose 

 it would kill anybody to take a good big drink 

 of it, as it contains so many minerals." 



I did not ask any more questions. In fact, 

 I went off and sat down by myself, and 

 thought I would wait and see whether I was 

 going to die or not. Well, I did not die — at 

 least not at that time; but I was rather un- 

 comfortable all the forenoon. 



When somebody mentioned that there was 

 a rustic bath-house away down in the piny 

 woods by a hot spring, I concluded I would 

 take a bath. The path was a winding one 

 through clumps of bushes and beautiful wild 

 flowers scattered all along the way — a veritable 

 sylvan retreat, in fact. When I reached the 

 spot I found the curtain up in front. A 

 wooden bath-tub occupied one end of the 

 tent. Two streams of water flowed into this 

 bath tub — cold water from a wooden trough, 

 and hot spring water from an iron spout. 

 Either spout could be shifted so as to pour off 



at the outside or on the inside of the bath-tub; 

 and thus one could have just the temperature 

 desired. You could cover yourself all over 

 with lather from the soapsuds, and then you 

 could rinse off the soap, not only once, but 

 twice or thrice, for there was "oceans" of 

 water, almost, running away constantly. But, 

 didn't I enjoy that hot-spring bath? If you 

 pull the curtains down and tie them up tight, 

 the temperature inside of the tent soon rises not 

 only up into the 90' s, but far above that. It 

 was like that greenhouse I told you about 

 in our last issue. I rather ;hink I had the 

 advantage of the rest of the party, for I had 

 an imvard cleansing with geyser water, as well 

 as an outward one. 



The trip from Upper Geyser Basin to Yel- 

 lowstone Lake, the greater part of the way, 

 was one of the finest in the park. I regretted 

 a good many times that I did not stick to my 

 wheel so I could take in the beautiful scenery 

 a little more leisurel}-. One of the most beau- 

 tiful scenes on the route is Kepler Cascades. 

 Here is a fall of something like 150 feet ; but 

 the water, instead of dropping straight down, 

 passes over a series of shelves, making little 

 falls. With the beautiful forest surrounding, 

 the wild flowers, and the birds, it is one of 

 the prettiest bits of scenery I think I ever 

 found. About half way to the lake, on some 

 elevated ground, there is a view of the Teton 

 Mountains, fully fifty miles away. There are 

 three snow-capped peaks called the Sentinels. 

 These form part of the boundary between the 

 States of Wyoming and Idaho, and they rise 

 to the tremendous height of 14,000 feet. A 

 beautiful view of Yellowstone Lake can be 

 had from the roadway, some little distance 

 before it is reached. Yellowstone Lake is 

 away up in the mountains, and it is no trifle of 

 a lake either, for it is something like 15 miles 

 wide and 20 miles long. It is the largest body 

 of water in North America, at so great an 

 altitude — almost 8000 feet. We do not know 

 how many hot springs and geysers there are 

 in the lake, under water; but we do know 

 that there are multitudes of them all round 

 about the lake. A beautiful steamer, built 

 somewhere in the East, has been, at much 

 expense and immense labor, transported to 

 the waters of this lake. Tourists can take a 

 boat-ride across the lake, or they can go with 

 the driver in the coach around the shores. 



On an island well out in the middle of the 

 lake, called Dot Island, is a sort of park, or 

 zoological groimd, where may be seen running 

 wild a few buffalo, some elk, and some moun- 

 tain sheep. The captain of the steamer has 

 charge of them, and does the feeding for the 

 entertainment of the visitors while the steam- 

 er makes a little stop. There are quite a num- 

 ber of islands on the surface of the lake. 

 With all the hot springs in and around the 

 lake, it is not astonishing that quite a river 

 constantly flows out from it. I have told you 

 about the fish already, in my bear-story to the 

 Sunday-school class. 



At the camp near the lake we went out in 

 the morning and found wild strawberries; and 

 by following the little mountain brook that 

 supplies the camp with pure soft water we 



