76 PIKE'S PEAK. 



foot of the mountains, furnished some luscious meat for 

 my evening meal ; but I could not get within rifle-shot of 

 any other game before dark. 



At dawn the next morning, I resumed my march for 

 the trapping region. Yet I did not reach the famous 

 Bayou Salada until noon the day after that. On the 

 banks of one of the small clear streams which pass through 

 this beautiful valley, I encamped, preparatory to com- 

 mencing trapping operations. A mountaineer's camp is 

 always picturesque. Mine resembled those commonly 

 constructed. I cleared a space about ten feet square, on 

 a gentle slope, about twenty yards from the edge of the 

 stream, and put up a breakwind of skins stretched on poles. 

 On the right of this rude substitute for a tent, I erected 

 4 meat-frame, consisting of two upright poles and a cross- 

 piece, high above the reach of wolves or bears, and on 

 that hung my provisions. A small skin sheltered my 

 ammunition and rifle on one side of my camp, but I had 

 no roof. A pile of wood was ranged on the outside of 

 my camp. 



The Bayou Salada, or the Salt Valley, is remarkable 

 for its wildly beautiful scenery. On all sides it is walled 

 in by lofty and rugged mountains. Pike's Peak, snow- 

 covered, towering above all like a ghostly sentinel. The 

 principal stream is the Fontaine qui Bouille, or Boiling 

 Spring river, which in the valley is not more than forty 



