42 



names till the air with their delicate perfume and contrast their bril- 

 liant colors with the dark green foliage of this romantic region. 



Medicinal plants are represented by handsome species of aconite 

 valerian, arnica, and gentian. Among the latter a new species, No. 172 

 in the list, was found here, which Prof. Asa Gray, of Harvard University, 

 has seen proper to name after the collector. 



The Continental Divide was crossed by a new and easy route, to be 

 known hereafter as the Lincoln Pass, where we camped in a beautiful 

 mountain park. The top of the ridge presents the appearance of being 

 cut down into a wide depression with an open undulating surface, the 

 western end of which overlooks the region beyond. The mountain spurs 

 •slope up gradually on either side of tte park, covered with a heavy 

 body of timber, and a clear stream flows through the center, fed by 

 numerous springs and brooks that issue from the adjoining hills. Al- 

 though in the middle of August, the snows had but recently melted and 

 the flowers and grasses had all the freshness of May. The Ranunculus. 

 Trollim, and Caltka were just coming in bloom down where the snow 

 had lingered longest, while higher up, at the edge of the timber, there 

 were spaces covered with Myosotos sylvatica and Toivnsendias and-EW- 

 (jirons, and farther out on the southern slope the surface was brilliant 

 with the golden yellow Arnica august [folia. The Douglas spruce, Pinus 

 contorta and Pinus flexilis, splendid specimens of evergreen trees, were 

 of all sizes, from the young* seedling up to mature age, scattered singly 

 ■and grouped in clusters or massed into dark forests in a way that made 

 the confusion of chance seem like the height of decorative art. These 

 and a few Pinus ponderosas and here and there a grove of Populus tremu- 

 loi<les, with their silver white trunks contrasting with the foliage of the 

 pines, comprise the whole list of trees which, in the combination of their 

 various sizes and habits, give the impression of a much greater variety* 



Oh an elevated plateau, in the center of the pass, traces of an old In- 

 dian encampment were found, with stone arrow heads, chippings and 

 unfinished pieces strewn around, relics, apparently, of the Sheepeater 

 band, who once inhabited this region, but belonging to a time so far back 

 in the forgotten past that our old Indian guide, a descendant of that 

 tribe, could give no satisfactory account of them. 



In passing from the eastern to the western water-shed no marked 

 change is to be noticed in the character of the flora. A slight differ- 

 ence may be traced, but, with few exceptions, the species, so far as the 

 route of the expedition extended, are common to both. 



THE ORGS VENTRE VALLEV. 



The Gros Ventre River, from its upper tributaries to within 12 miles 

 of its mouth, where it enters the Snake River basin, is hemmed in by 

 mountains, leaving only very narrow valleys, interrupted by cliffs, winch 

 frequently descend, on one side or the other, quite to its banks. The 

 stream abounds with trout, and is a favorite locality for elk, deer, and 



