210 OUR NATIONAL PARKS 



when I looked through the brush I found him 

 confronting me, still with a come-in-if-you-dare 

 expression. In vain I tried to explain that I 

 only wanted my bread; he stoutly held the 

 ground in front of it ; so I went back a dozen 

 rods and kept still for half an hour, and when I 

 returned he had gone. 



One evening, near sundown, in a very rough, 

 boulder-choked portion of the canon, I searched 

 long for a level spot for a bed, and at last was 

 glad to find a patch of flood-sand on the river- 

 bank, and a lot of driftwood close by for a camp- 

 fire. But when I threw down my bundle, I 

 found two snakes in possession of the ground. 

 I might have passed the night even in this snake 

 den without danger, for I never knew a single 

 instance of their coming into camp in the night ; 

 but fearing that, in so small a space, some late 

 comers, not aware of my presence, might get 

 stepped on when I was replenishing the fire, to 

 avoid possible crowding I encamped on one of 

 the earthquake boulders. 



There are two species of Crotalus in the Park, 

 and when I was exploring the basin of Yosemite 

 Creek I thought I had discovered a new one. I 

 saw a snake with curious divided appendages on 

 its head. Going nearer, I found that the strange 

 headgear was only the feet of a frog. Cutting 

 a switch, I struck the snake lightly until he dis- 

 gorged the poor frog, or rather allowed it to 



