173 



back and take a new tack. The rain was still falling heavily when the 

 sun set and darkness commenced. 



In these high altitudes there is scarcely any twilight, and darkness 

 quickly follows sunset. I will not go through all the details of our 

 descent, as nothing occurred beyond what has happened in the experi- 

 ence of every mountain-climber. We reached camp late in the night, 

 thoroughly drenched, and had to eat supper in the rain, which was any- 

 thing but pleasant. 



If I could end the history of the adventures of this remarkable day 

 by describing how we were pleasantly housed in dry, comfortable quar- 

 ters, and how we contentedly " wrapped the drapery of our couch about 

 us and lay down to pleasant dreams," I would. But, alas ! how the ro- 

 mance would be taken out of the story if I should tell how we crawled 

 into our low, short, and narrow little tents, with the water running 

 under at the edges, and leaking through at the top, and how we had to 

 lie as still as possible lest we might disturb the pools of water gradually 

 collecting on our blankets, and precipitate them into the inner recesses 

 of our bed-clothes. All this and more shall I leave untold, and cease 

 to disturb the several members of the party, placidly snoring away in 

 the babe-like innocence of their slumbers. And while they thus replen- 

 ish their wasted energies with the nocturnal balm of sleep, may the un- 

 wearied mind of the reader wander like a restless ghost up and down 

 this interesting caSon, and observe with care the high and picturesque 

 walls of trachyte, which extend from the creek-bed to the summit of 

 ever-memorable station 12, and wonder, it may be, at the pine-trees scat- 

 tered here and there in the cracks iu the rock 2,000 feet above him, 

 having scarce a root-hold, and looking so diminutive as to suggest the 

 idea that some Japanese had been there and applied their wonderful 

 art to stunt them to their apparent pigmy stature. If, too, he extends 

 his observations up the scarcely less imposing canon of Snare Creek, 

 he will find many more things wonderful in their nature, but too varied 

 to find a place in such a hasty sketch as this. If the reader, after hav- 

 ing satiated his curiosity with the many wonders of nature here laid out 

 before him, will return from his wanderings to the camp he left the night 

 before, an interesting scene will soon present itself to his eyes. If, a 

 little before the break of day, he observe closely the tents of the sev- 

 eral sleepers before mentioned, he will soon observe a movement in the 

 one occupied by our huge black cook. That little circumstance marks 

 the dawn of the next fiscal day, even though the first object emerging 

 from the tent be as black as night. In all countries it is a recognized 

 fact that the darkest part of the night comes just before the dawn, 

 and the present case tends to confirm the truth of the adage. The 

 morning is bright and clear, but all things not under close cover are 

 wet, and wood is no exception to the rule. The cook searches about 

 under trees and bushes till he has collected together an armful of 

 tolerably dry branches, and then makes the fire. The fire burns, and 

 another era iu the cook's existence has commenced. He takes four sheet- 

 iron pots, all of different sizes, and starts for the creek. A man of less 

 muscle would content himself with two. He soon returns with all the ves- 

 sels filled with water, and places some of them on the coals to heat, one 

 for the coffee, the others for cracked wheat, hominy, or other article. At 

 this stage of the proceedings there is some commotion in another tent, 

 and presently the two packers emerge from their cover fully equipped 

 for the dsij. One immediately starts out to hunt up the mules, while the 

 other puts the packs and aparejos in order. The cook proceeds to 

 bake his bread in a Dutch oven, while the rest of the party still snore on. 



