The Aftermath of a Club Outing. 165 



here that we first found one of the most lovely of the 

 Sierra flowers, the Primula suffrutescens, with its tufts 

 of clear purplish-blue flowers gleaming among compact 

 foliage, growing often in a sheltered crevice where the sun 

 could exert its full power, seeming in their sharp note of 

 color to proclaim aloud the keenness which is so charac- 

 teristic of this alpine air. As the name signifies, "suf- 

 frutescent," it is "somewhat woody at the base," a hardy 

 mountaineeer, tough, handsome, and compact. It does 

 not climb to this height for nothing; here are found all 

 sorts of things to overcome and the fierce vitality which 

 overcomes all things. At half-past 7, close to the last 

 sentinels of the white-barked pines, in preparation for 

 our second breakfast, wx lighted two diminutive fires, on 

 w^hich, carefully supported by bits of rock, snow was 

 melted in our round-bottomed tin cups, a ticklish opera- 

 tion, requiring nice adjustment of means to ends, where 

 one learns from experience that time is saved by patient 

 exercise of skill to prevent an upset, in which event, as 

 one learns to his cost, the flame has to be fed with 

 splinters and whittlings of stubborn gnarled pine, and 

 teased to life again. We had brought Anker's bouillon 

 capsules, the best of all similar preparations, which, 

 dissolved in boiling water, tasted very good indeed with 

 Bent's altogether excellent water-crackers. Soon after 

 8 we were climbing again, having achieved half of the 

 height of the mountain above the floor of the valley, and 

 perhaps two thirds of the actual distance to the summit. 

 A rock-cress, Arabis, of a lavender-pink color, grew just 

 above our camping-place. Soon after starting the rain 

 began to fall gently, and we were so fortunate as 

 to find a cave among the rocks large enough to crawl 

 into, the only one encountered in the day's climb, a 

 fortunate discovery for us, since in it we were quite 

 protected from wind and rain, and had as well a splendid 

 view to contemplate. Mountain rats, many generations 

 of them, had made their home in this recess; one had 

 built a nest of what would seem untoward material, bits 



