46 



tons, which have dammed up its ancient channel along the base of the 



mountains and carried it out into the middle of the valley. 



The shores of the lake, including its large islands, are covered with 

 spruce, pine, and poplar, with the associated undergrowth, and from 



* this point northward, the timber increases rapidly until the whole sur- 

 face is occupied with a dense forest. The species are the same as those 

 common to this whole region, excepting that the heavy yellow pine 

 {Pinus ponder osa) is more rare, and two other handsome species become 

 quite frequent, Picea Engelmanni and Abies subalpina. These two are 

 found together throughout the Park and Bear Tooth Range in rich, moist 

 soil, between 7,000 and 9,000 feet. The latter has been confounded, in 

 reports from this region, under two or three other names, as Abies 

 grandis, A. amabilis, &c, but it is the only Abies found in the Rocky 

 Mountains north of the latitude of Pike's Peak. The habits of this and 

 Picea Engelmanni are so identical that the two are always found to- 

 gether, preferring the outskirts of the timber and open places along 

 with Douglass, spruce and Pinus jiexiliSj while Pinus cmitorta forms 

 the main body of the thick forest, to the exclusion of almost all other 

 large trees. The margins of lakes and streams are skirted with the 

 usual growth of willows, western birch, spotted alder, and the red osier 

 dogwood, and up the sides of the mountains we often encounter thick 

 masses of Ceanothus velutina, Symphorwarpus occidentalism and Rub us 

 Nutkanus. In moist, shady places along the mountains north of Jack- 

 Son's Lake Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi, Berber is aquifolium, Linnwa bore- 

 alis, Bryanthus empetriformiSj and Yaccitium Myrtilkcs L. var., micro- 

 phyUum, Hook., are common. The latter is a diminutive species of 

 evergreen whortleberry, 5 to 10 inches high, found every where in the 

 timber, from 8,000 to 10,000 feet. It is said that the Indians are fond 

 of the tea made from dried leaves and stems of this plant, and we had 

 ample opportunity to enjoy the delicious flavor of its little coral red 

 berries. Rub us strigosus, Fragaria Virginiana, Ribes fioridum, Ribes 

 laeitstre, and Ribes cereum were ripe and abundant along the canons 

 to the* east of our last camp on Snake River. Prom this point our 

 Course was up Lewis's Fork and along the shores of Lewis's and Sho- 

 shone lakes, through a densely wooded country covered with fallen logs, 

 to the Upper Geyser Basin. 



IN THE PARK. 



The remarkable character of the region included within the National 

 Park and the infinite variety of natural wonders and objects of inter- 

 est to be found there, have attracted the attention of scientists, journal- 

 ists, and artists, who have given such accurate pen and pencil pictures 

 of it that the tourist, merely taking a hasty look, finds but little left to 

 tell. It was intended, among other things on this trip, to collect som< 

 data bearing on the question as to whether the number and activity of 

 .he Yellowstone geysers was decreasing or not. A large number of re- 





