132 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
were there introduced to Dr. Pillbox, a young physician 
who was to form one of our party. When breakfast was 
over, we took our seats in a large wagon drawn by two 
sturdy cayuses and started on our journey. We arrived 
at our destination in due time, and after our host had 
transacted his business, he turned the heads of the horses 
for Coeur d’Alene Lake. This was before it was occu- 
pied as a military post. Lake Coeur d’Alene, which is 
one of the most charming bodies of water on the Conti- 
nent, has a length of about twenty-five miles and a width 
that varies from two to ten miles. It is surrounded by 
a dense forest which grows to its verge, and is reflected 
in the water with mirror-like fidelity. It has one outlet 
called the Spokane River, which passes through some 
very romantic scenery, and produces in its course several 
beautiful cascades, the most important of which are the 
Spokane Falls. This stream has a width of one hundred 
and sixty yards at the outlet, and a depth of several feet, 
so that it springs into life full grown. The water in both 
the lake and the river is so clear that the bottom, which 
is several fathoms down in the former, can be plainly 
seen, while the movements of the tiny fishes may be 
readily noted at night with theaid of a hunting or fish- 
ing lamp. 
We pitched our tent on one of the promontories, as this 
gave us a magnificent view of the lake and the fir and 
pine-clad mountains which stretched back of it in roll 
after roll until they vanished in the dim distance. 
These mountains rise abruptly from the water, there be- 
ing scarcely any break between them, except the debris 
washed down by rains and floods, and that is of so little 
consequence, comparatively speaking, that the lake may 
be said to be buried in the summit of the mountains. It 
looks as if it occupied the bed of an old crater, for the 
region surrounding it shows violent igneous action, and 
the ground is so hard that no water can be found ten feet 
