Big Game Animals of the YcUozvstone 413 



geysers and colorful springs and waterfalls, and included a ride 

 along the shores of beautiful Yellowstone Lake during a sudden 

 hail squall of great violence. We had begun our journey in the 

 bright sunshine of a summer's morn and had viewed almost every 

 species of hot water display, and then at noon a hailstorm over- 

 took us and we were shown what cold water and ice could do ! 

 After lunch at the Lake Hotel we continued our journey over the 

 meadows of Hayden. Valley, following the meandering Yellowstone 

 River to its Grand Canyon. We viewed the canyon between 

 showers. It is a beautiful mass of soft yellow coloring, a natural 

 work of art, due to chemical disintegration of the lava rock. The 

 simple beauty of this canyon abyss with its great waterfall has been 

 often misstated and exaggerated in print. It requires no kaleido- 

 scope of colors to describe its beauty. It has a charm all its own, 

 a yellowness that is soft and dominant, and proportions that gladden 

 the eye. We reluctantly stole away from this fascinating canyon 

 and drove into a second hailstorm before reaching Norris Geyser 

 Basin where the youngest and most active of the geyser children 

 play. The place was a mass of steam issuing in many small jets, 

 with one great voice, the Black Growler, dominating the smother 

 of white vapor. Darkness closed down on us at the Golden Gate, 

 a few miles from our destination at Mammoth Camp. 



Two days later we were welcomed by Superintendent Horace M. 

 Albright, during a breathing spell in his task of preparing his esti- 

 mate of the annual budget for all the National Parks. He is a 

 conscientious public servant with a multitude of duties to perform, 

 official and social, which do not permit him a single moment of 

 leisure during the summer tourist season. Throughout our s':ay in 

 the Park he gave us the use of Park facilities and the assistance 

 of his ranger staff (see figs. 46-49), as well as his own personal 

 attention whenever he could spare time from his official duties. 

 Superintendent Albright is a good father to the game animals, solicit- 

 ous of their welfare and protection at all times. He regards this 

 last refuge of the grizzly, the vanishing antelope, and the remaining 

 great moose, elk and buffalo herds as a sacred trust. Very efficient 

 game protection is being built up; but the Superintendent's rule is 

 not absolute within the Park, for not a few of the things permitted 

 by the National Park Service pass without his approval. He needs 

 a free hand if the rarer and more valuable animals are to be immune 

 from persecution, the first consideration in the effort to perpetuate 

 these species, 



