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southwest of us. Beyond this we saw uotbing of interest that cannot be 

 better described in the sequel. 



The next day found us retracing' our steps down Godwin Creek. 

 After camping a night at the junction, we moved up Lake Fork, making a 

 station by the way on a low point near the stream. A few miles above 

 the junction we came to a beautiful lake bearing on Mr. Prout's map the 

 name " San Cristoval." This is by far the finest of the many little lakes 

 we saw during the summer. It is in the bed of the canon, and has been 

 formed by a slide from the east side of the stream. Judging from the 

 g'rowth of pines over this slide we concluded that it had taken place in 

 very recent times, but how recent we could not determine. The lake is 

 about one mile and a half in length, and in some places as much as a 

 quarter of a mile in width. Several very small islets covered with 

 willows add much to the beauty of the scene. A thick growth of pine 

 timber surrounds it on all sides. To the east there is a tolerably easy 

 slope back to the foot of the bluffs of the high plateau. On the west 

 side the high mass of red mountains rises abruptly from the waters edge. 



It was near the lower end of this lake that the Eandolph party of 

 artists discovered the bodies of five men the day after we passed them 

 at this point. They are supposed to have been murdered by white men 

 for their money. The caiion of Lake Fork is nowhere so rough as that 

 of Godwin Creek, and the trail is quite good for the greater part of the 

 distance to the head of the stream. After camping a short distance above 

 the lake, and getting a good night's rest, we took an early start on one of 

 the most curiously interesting and strangely dangerous trips of the season. 

 We had to ride up the creek several miles before making the ascent of 

 the peak for which we were traveling. From this fact we were thrown 

 late and got caught on the summit in one of the afternoon storms. In- 

 termingled with other unusual drawbacks, we had a fair share of the 

 common but not less disagreeable climbing over loose rocks and through 

 fallen timber ; neither were events of the chase wanting to add to the 

 great variety of incidents encountered during this eventful day. The 

 object in view was to make a station on the highest point of the red mass 

 above mentioned. In order to accomplish this, we had to follow up a ridge 

 along which patches of loose rock alternating with timber, made the 

 riding very difiicult. It soon became impossible to follow the ridge any 

 farther, and we had to cross the gorge on our left, going down 300 or 

 400 feet, and up again more than a thousand feet to the summit of the 

 next ridge. Eiding was out of the question, so we had to lead our mules. 

 After getting out of the caiion the ground became smoother, and near 

 the timber-line we rode along without difficulty, the land being very open 

 and covered with grass. It was here that a considerable herd of moun- 

 tain-sheep appeared in the distance. We saw them before they saw us, 

 and, leading our mules out of sight, slipped through the timber with the 

 utmost care ; but before we could get in position, the sentinel of the herd, 

 posted on a prominent point, gave the alarm, and they all instantly took 

 to flight. Wilson succeeded in shooting one on the run. As we had had 

 no fresh meat for two weeks, the result of the shot was very gratifying to 

 us all. 



For the rest of the ride the ground was covered with a short growth 

 of grass, but devoid of trees, as we had passed the timber-line. At an 

 elevation of 13,000 feet the soil ended abruptly, and from that point on, 

 all was loose rock. Here we hitched our mules to stones, and, taking the 

 note-books and instruments, continued the ascent on foot. This part of 

 our work was quite easy, although the height we had to climb was 

 nearly a thousand feet vertical. Before reaching the summit of the first 



