5 WAS rambling alone on snowshoes, doing some 

 winter observations in the alpine heights of 

 the Sangre de Cristo range. It was miles to 

 the nearest house. There was but little snow 

 upon the mountains, and, for winter, the day 

 was warm. I was thirsty, and a spring which 

 burst forth among the fragments of petrified 

 wood was more inviting than the water-bottle 

 in my pocket. The water was cool and clear, 

 tasteless and, to all appearances, pure. 



As I rose from drinking, a deadly, all-gone 

 feeling overcame me. After a few seconds of 

 this, a violent and prolonged nausea came on. 

 Evidently I had discovered a mineral spring! 

 Perhaps it was arsenic, perhaps some other 

 poison. Poison of some kind it must have 

 been, and poisonous mineral springs are not 

 unknown. 



The sickness was very like seasickness, with 

 a severe internal pain and a mental stimulus 



109 



