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A CALIFORNIA TRAMP. 



and from one to two feet in thickness, the whole being of a dark 

 gray color. The surface of the rock is filled with names 

 and dates from base to summit, on the side fronting the road, 

 where ambitious travelers have endeavored to immortalize 

 themselves through the medium of black and red paint, con- 

 verted into glaring capitals. Thousands of names, known and 

 unknown to fame, are here recorded on a gigantic album 

 which will stand till the crack of doom. Fremont, on his 



The Devil's Gate. » 



return from his first expedition in 1842, carved a cross on this 

 rock, which, after he became a candidate for the Presidency, 

 became a prominent object: the enemies of the Pathfinder 

 seeing Jesuitism in the act. The rock is situated close to the 

 river, near by where the road crosses it, and as it stands on the 

 edge of a plain, it has a majestic look. About four miles 

 farther on we saw a still greater curiosity. This was the Devil's 

 Gate, where the Sweet Water forces its way through a rugged 



