A LOFTY PINE FOREST. 65 



went very silently we never saw anything of 

 the bears themselves. 



Hill after hill we climbed, never speaking, 

 both determined to succeed if success was to 

 be won by continued endeavour ; but every 

 new view that opened before us was void of 

 the only thing that could have made it look 

 beautiful in our sioiit. About ten o'clock 

 Simon lay down and said he could not go any 

 further, and must rest. So we rested and ate 

 our last maize-cake in silence and sulldness. 

 Another long tramp took us off these high 

 grass hills (where at an elevation of I should 

 thmk about 5,000 feet, I found a little willow 

 wren, dead apparently from cold), and brought 

 us into the most beautiful mountain pine forest 

 imaginable. 



Everywhere thick soft moss grew on 

 narrow step-hke ledges, from which rose tall, 

 shady pines, under which the chamois might 

 rest during the heat of the day. Tiny cas- 



VOL. II. F 



