1896,] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 1 63 



I reached the cluster of cabins that constituted the camp. The 

 mine itself was at some distance and difficult of access, every- 

 thing^ being taken to and fro on the backs of the "burros" or 

 jacks, as they are more generally called here; a long string of 

 them was just then descending the mountain side by the ' ' Winter 

 trail" the quantity of snow even at this late date rendering the 

 shorter but more precipitous route of the " Summer trail" still 

 unavailable. It was nearly noon, a respectable family kept the 

 boarding house, which was clean and roomy — and the dinner, 

 nearly ready, gave forth its unmistakable fragrance, finding a 

 ready response in my hungry stomach. I came with a good 

 "recommend" from the brother of the proprietors. I had 

 boarded with him at another station lower down, and he had 

 suggested to me this place as the best I could find if I wished to 

 collect at highest elevations — and so I found it. I was warmly 

 welcomed, and told to make myself thoroughly at home. When 

 the men, fifteen in number, came to dinner "Brother Jim's" 

 letter was read before them all, and my status as a collector of 

 "specimens" was explained and quickly understood, and every- 

 thing was pleasantly arranged in a few minutes; one good fellow, 

 who had quite an interesting collection of minerals, claimed me 

 as "chum;" he had a large cabin of his own and a spare "bunk," 

 so I had a good time at this place for seven days on this occasion, 

 and have made several pleasant visits since. The camp itself was 

 about 13,000 feet above sea-level, the peaks close in the western 

 front ranging from more than 1000 feet higher. Bright sunny 

 mornings and cool cloudy afternoons were the general rule. I 

 usually worked the peaks and upper plateaus until noon, then 

 after dinner I went below into the valleys as far as timber line, 

 which here was at nearly 12,000 feet, always returning to my 

 mountain eyrie in the evening; it froze sharply every night and a 

 good fire was absolutely necessary soon after sundown. The 

 only way to make a thorough investigation of the mountain 

 ranges is to reside in them for a time, and in Colorado the mining 

 camps aflford facilities for this purpose generally, although it is 

 not at every one that a stranger would care to stay long. This 

 camp was indeed a notable exception, everything being clean and 

 orderly, and a regular supply of fresh beef sent by contract from 

 Denver every week made a marked contrast to the menu of salt 

 pork or ham, and canned stuff usually found in such places. 



