April 7, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



223 



"grand round," if possible. I intended to go from here 

 to the Norris Basin and Lower and Upper Basin; from 

 there go over on to the Pacific Slope, crossing the Conti- 

 nental Divide to Shoshone Lake; visit that, recross to 

 yie Yellowstone Lake, follow down that to the river, 

 then on down stream to the Falls of the YelloAvstone, 

 then over Mt. Washburne to the Tower Falls; look up the 

 game, and return to the Hot Springs. 



We had enough lunch put up for two days, then on the 

 morning of Feb. 14, with 181bs. packs each, Ave started for 

 Norris, 22kniles distant. We were joined by Con and 

 passed the quarters of the soldiers stationed here for the 

 protection of the Park. Their buildings, barracks, store- 

 house, guard house, stables, hospital and others are built 

 under the principal Hot Springs terraces. We soon came 

 to the dead timber, which extends for miles around the 

 Springs, and which was killed by a fire in October, 1882, 

 started in the Swan Lake Basin. 



Within two miles of the Springs we came to the fresh 

 trail of a band of elk. I saw their beds to the left of the 

 road where they had passed the night. T think there 

 must have been twenty in the band. Arriving at Golden 

 Gate, we found that the wind had swept the snow off the 

 road, and even out of the gulch, except where it was piled 

 in immense drifts. The wind sweeps through this pass 

 with frightful force from the open country beyond. The 

 trees exposed to the wind are all leaning from it, and 

 every limb is pointed in the same direction. As we came 

 in sight of the Pass we saw it woidd be very difficult to 

 get out that way unless we descended into the gulch and 

 then climbed out over the Rustic Falls. This we thought 

 worse than climbing the cliffs to our right, which we did, 

 passing our snowshoes to one another. We had to go up 

 about 75ft. to get out on to a country where we could use 

 our shoes again. In a few minutes we were out in the 

 open country known as the Swan Lake Basin. It was 

 snowing a little, still we could see a few miles. There 

 was very little wind; the day was cold and good for 

 traveling. Going about half a mile I turned to look south 

 toward Electric Peak. All the high ridges exposed to the 

 west wind were blown free from snow, and on them were 

 several bands of elk feeding, I counted up to 120 in all; 

 only four of them were old bulls; they were off to one 

 side. The elk were in small bands of ten and fifteen; it 

 Was a beautiful sight, I could not resist the temptation 

 to shout, and I gave one whoo-pee! I think every elk 

 heard it and started for higher ground; not knowing what 

 was wrong, they collected on some high points, where 

 they remained so long as in sight. All these elk were 

 within less than four miles of the Mammoth Hot Springs 

 and do not include those on Seprdchre Mountain, Electric 

 Peak or the ridges between them. Cows, calves and 

 spike bulls made up the band. I was within half a mile 

 of the most distant of those I saw until I shouted. 



Following the open country south, we soon came to 

 the Gardiner River, which Ave crossed on a bridge just 

 below where the stream is joined by Panther and Indian 

 Creeks. The streams were open most of the Avay, and 

 every rock or snag in the stream was capped with a huge 

 ball of snow out of all proportion to the size of the rock 

 or support. Through this section of the country the snow 

 was from 4|ft. to 5ft. deep, and increasing in depth as 

 we went south. Two miles from the bridge we came to 

 Lieut. Schwatka's second camp,a Sibley tent,crushed down 

 by snoAV, with only the pole and stovepipe standing. 

 Con proposed to dig it out and camp here for the night. 

 It was rather early to camp, only 1 P. M. We had the 

 tent partly uncovered when the mail carrier came along 

 on his way to the Springs. He had been very sick from 

 a wetting he received in the Gibbon River on his way out. 

 He had to cross on a log, at the further end of which 

 there was a large snoAA^drift, in which he tried to beat a 

 foothold with his ..snowshoe pole, when suddenly the 

 whole drift gave away, knocking him off the log into the 

 river, where the water was four feet deep. The snow 

 rolled over him, and kept him under water for quite a 

 while. When he finally got out, his matches were wet, 

 so he could not build a fire to dry himself. He was six 

 miles from Norris and twelve miles from the Lower 

 Basin Hotel. He concluded to go on to the Geyser 

 Basin. His clothing soon froze like armor. He was 

 hardly able to move. About half a mile further on, at 

 the Beryl Hot Springs, he warmed up and thawed out 

 his stiffened garments. Then by moving fast he kept 

 warm; went on the next day to the Upper Basin, and 

 there was taken sick from the effects of his wetting and 

 exposure. This accounted for his being out in the Park 

 so much longer than usual. We were glad to learn of 

 his escape, for Pete Nelson is a good, reliable man and a 

 first-class snowshoer. 



We soon had the tent cleaned off and propped up Avith 

 poles, and a fire started. Making some tea, we lunched. 

 While engaged in cutting some wood for the night, we 

 heard a dog bark, and looking up saw Mr. Kelley (the 

 man in charge of the Norris Hotel) coming doAvn on 

 Pete's trail Avith two small dogs folloAving. Mr. Kelley 

 was out looking for Con who was overdue at Norris. I 

 began to think the woods Avere full of people. I had not 

 expected to meet any one when I started out. Kelley 

 was 'glad to find us and a comfortable fire to camp by; if 

 he had not found us here he had inten'dea to go on to the 



Mammoth Hot Springs. Wo found in the tent some 

 blankets, sleeping bags and robes left here by the 

 Schwatka party. We made ourselves comfortable and 

 passed a very pleasant night. 



In the morning Con noticed a bottle hanging up on a 

 tree, some 12ft. from the level of the snow. Thinking it 

 would be good to cany tea in to drink on the road, he 

 climbed the tree and took it down. Noticing some 

 writing on it he brought it to me, and it was a 

 surprise. Written on the label was a note that the 

 bottle was "placed on the level of the snow. Ther. 

 — 51°," signed, "Schwatka, Jan. 7." On Jan. 7 the 

 snow was not deep enough to prevent teams pass- 



^'•■«*jU«MM««IIB.'«JUBg>.ij^£?ir < 5^*3 



en*- 



201^2034205 FOURTH 3T.C0R SIBLEY, & 305 JACKSON ST. 



906 Main St. KANSAS CITY, Mo. 



ing back and forward between the Mammoth Hot 

 Springs and Norris — about 3ft. of snow. The thermome- 

 ter did register rather low, —31° at the Lower Geyser 

 Basin, and — 2(5° at the Mammoth Hot Springs. I took 

 off the label as a curiosity. I suppose the snow must 

 have been very deep when the bottle was "placed on the 

 level of the snow," and the weather very much colder 

 here than anywhere else in the Park. As there was 

 nothing in the bottle but air I concluded that the whole 

 thing Avas a misstatement and that the high winds had 

 blown and lodged the bottle in the tree, even Avith a 

 telephone insulator spiked to the other side of the tree. 

 Strange things happen in the Park. 



I mentioned the matter of bedding, which I Avished to 

 obtain at the Upper Basin Hotel to use while going from 

 there to the Falls, via Shoshone and Yellowstone Lake. 

 Mr. Kelley, avIio had charge of some of the stuff left by 

 Lieut. SchAvatka, suggested that we take one of the Arc- 

 tic sleeping bags, Avhich Ave did, to be left at the Mam- 

 moth Hot Springs on our return. This saved the trouble 

 of packing blankets, but I think a pah* of blankets each 

 would have answered our purpose better than the bag. 



Leaving this camp we started out through WilloAv Park, 

 taking turns of fifteen minutes each breaking trail, as it 

 is quite hard on the man ahead, when one sinks in the 

 suoav from six to ten inches. In this order we came to 

 Crystal Springs; here there was a very dangerous bit of 

 snow on an exposed side of the canon with no timber to 

 hold it. There was danger of its sliding doAvn at any 

 moment. We passed here safely, however, and soon came 

 out to the Obsidian Cliffs and Beaver Lake. The cliffs Avere 

 draped with suoav, which hung to every projection and 

 point, hiding most of the obsidian. The little of the cliffs 

 that could be seen looked blacker than usual from being- 

 brought into contrast with the pure Avhite of the snoAv. 



Beaver .Lake AA r as frozen oA r er and covered Avith about 

 two feet of snow. We crossed it lengthwise, passing near 

 the beaver house, which tourists can see from the road in 

 summer. From indications there is a family of beavers in 

 it now. 



We soon came to Roaring Mountain, where the stream 

 rushes from the mountain with a loud noise. There is 

 considerable bare ground on the mountain owing to the 

 heat melting the snow off as fast as it falls; but every 

 detached rock is cold enough to hold snow; on these it 

 accumulates in globe-like masses, looking like white 

 islands scattered over the bare ground. 



Twin Lakes were soon passed; these Avere interesting. 

 We crossed on the snow and ice, and took the short cuts 

 every time. While passing the Roadside Springs, we 

 found more bare ground; at one place the road was bare 

 for a hundred yards, except where there was a small 

 bridge; the snow on this was 4ft. deep; it looked like a 

 white marble tomb. Some of the shapes taken by the 

 suoav on the loose rocks were queer. Tam O'Shanter hats, 

 rabbits, bears, and hundreds of forms resembling animals 

 and buildings, forms that only a photographer could 

 illustrate. 



At about 11 o'clock we were all startled by a loud 

 rumbling report in the direction of the Falls. We thought 

 at first it was an earthquake, but we felt no tremor or 

 movements of the ground. This was a beautiful clear 

 day, the third clear day since Jan. 11; up to this time it 

 had snoAved every day with the two exceptions. 



The bright sunshine made it hard snowshoeing for Con 

 and Kelley, their shoes clogging considerably. Jack's 

 and mine ran very smoothly with an application of the 

 candles a feAv times, rubbed on the bottoms of the shoes. 

 At 8:15 we arrived at the Norris Hotel, where Ave were 

 taken good care of. Maj. Lyman telephoned over that 

 -he had heard loud report in the direction of the Norris 

 Qeyeer Basin. No, one knew about the cause — an addi- 

 tional Park mystery. ElVood Ho'ffjb. 



IN THE POCONO MOU NTAINS— II. 



BY A COUNTRY PAKSOX. 



r pHE morning of the second day, as we mounted the 

 JL buckboard, Ave fancied that we Avere to be favored 

 with the presence of a very valuable guide and companion 

 in the person of mine host, whom we shall call Isaac, 

 partly because that is a good, honest Biblical name, and 

 partly because it is his real name. 



" And may we make so bold as to inquire of our worthy 

 host," said Dan, as he whistled for his dog and mounted 

 the buckboard, " where is he going to take this good look- 

 ing party this fine morning ? We want to go where the 

 birds are, you know." 



" Well,"' replied Isaac, " I think Ave'U try the cattle pas- 

 ture, down on the edge of the Big SAvamp. If there are 

 not birds there, I don't know where to look for them." 



" That's a good place," said Jerry. "We might get up 

 a bear too ; there are bears down that way." 



" Bears," queried Sam, rather incredulously." I'm a 

 stranger up in these parts, you know, and it's my first trip 

 in this bush, and I don't want you to try to scare me with 

 bear stories so early in the morning. Are you joking, or 

 what are you giving me, any way?" 



" Joking! " said Jerry. *" Not a bit of it, my boy. 

 There are plenty of bears down in the SAvamp. Last 

 season several were killed there by our friend Isaac, here. 

 They caught them in strong steel traps and then shot 

 them. And this last summer, when I Avas up here trout 

 fishing, I saAA r the carcasses of two steers the bears had 

 killed. I venture to say we shall see signs of them in the 

 woods to-day, either their tracks or logs torn apart in 

 search of ants or other indications of their presence." 



" There was a Methodist preacher up in these woods a 

 year or tAvo ago," said Isaac," and he was fishing in the 

 Tobehanna, Avhen a bear came poking his nose through 

 the bushes. The pi'eacher jumped into the stream, 

 mounted a big rock and drew his revolver, but didn't fire. 

 He said afterward he was pretty well scared, but that he 

 made up his mind if the bear would leave him alone he 

 'would leave th.3 bear alone." 



" Sensible man," exclaimed Sam. " That's about what 

 I'd do. But, suppose one would come at you, and you had 

 nothing in your gun but bird shot, Avhat would a fellow 

 do? I'd fire for his eyes, and try to blind the old ras- 

 cal." 



"I reckon," said I, "that's about the best thing one 

 could do— if he couldn't get away. But I'd never attack 

 one unlesi-j on the strictly defensive. It's a little too 

 risky* They tell me that a bear can get through these 

 bushes a good deal faster than a man, and the odds are 

 generally in favor of the bear against a gun loaded with 

 shot that will only infuriate but cannot»easily be made to 

 kill the beast. However, a man may make a lucky shot 

 even in such a case. I lately read in one of our papers 

 about a man by the name of Ranch, of Bethlehem, Pa., 

 Avho killed a bear with bird shot while hunting- grouse up 

 in these regions. Other hunters had been folloAving the 

 trail of the bear nearly all day Avith dogs, and she was 

 driven out of the avoocIs at the spot where Ranch was 

 hunting. Being angry after long harrassing by the 

 hunters and dogs, and evidently looking on Ranch »s one 

 of its tormentors, the beast at once shoAved fight on see- 

 ing him. Raueh, although having little hope" of protec- 

 tion from the brute by the use of bis fine shot, neverthe- 

 less fired full at the face of the approaching brute, and 

 fortunately succeeded in putting out both her eyes. He 

 then emptied the contents of the other barrel into her 

 head, back of the left ear, and killed her. She was of 

 considerable size, and in fine condition." 



"A good bear story, that; and it may be true, too. But 

 it was a rather close call for Raueh*," remarked Jerry. 

 "I've got some shells loaded pretty heavily with buckshot 

 that I always carry handy about me for such an oc- 

 casion." 



"And so have I," remarked the writer, "if only I can 

 remember not to forget my presence of mind when the 

 bear comes. This matter of presence of mind is a queer 

 thing. A fellow has plenty of it when he has no call for 

 it, but when he needs it where is it ? It reminds me of 

 what Josh Billings says about eloquence. 'I have the 

 gift of eloquence,' says he, nervously feeling in his vest 

 pocket as if in search of it, and looking all around the 

 platform, as if he had somewhere dropped it, 'yes, I 

 have the gift of eloquence — but I don't carry it with 

 me.' " 



"Well, boys," said our host, alighting from the buck- 

 board, "here is the 'Ben Wood field,' and here Ave're 

 going to strike in; so I guess you had best dismount." 



The "Ben Wood Field" is a mere clearing in a rough 

 and savage looking country, and is no doubt a first-rate 

 place for pheasant shooting when the pheasants are 

 about the premises. But that particrdar morning they 

 seemed to have taken a very decided dislike to that patch, 

 of Avoods, and were nowhere to be found. We skirmished 

 all round the clearing, put our four dogs into the bush 

 (we had borrowed two of the natives' dogs in addition to 

 Ponto and Jerry's favorite, Sport, the "knock-kneed"), 

 but it was all no good. Not a feather did we see, ror 

 a bear. We had a hard tramp till toward noon, when 

 we came to what the natives call "a chopping," a place 

 where the lumbermen had been getting out hemlock logs, 

 and had left the treetops and branches ("lop and top" as 

 it used to be called in England a hundred years ago) 

 affording a fine shelter for the birds. No sooner had we 

 struck the edge of this "chopping" than we began to have 

 fun. It Avas full of birds, and we blazed away right and 

 left, getting some, and, Of course, missing not a few that 

 Avere too far away, or too much in a hurry to get behind 

 the bush. Such a half hour as -we had there on the south- 

 ern face of that hillside, the warm sun shining, and the 

 whirr of the pheasants' whig stirring every nerve in a 

 man's body, was enough fun for one day. Still, it is with 

 the undescribable exhilaration of such a bout with the 

 birds in the bush as it is Avith most kinds of fun — the 

 more you have the more you want. And so we pushed 

 on down through raA r ines and up steep hillsides, "peek- 

 ing" about under the dark pines until we reached a good 

 place to camp for dinner. Jerry and I had already un- 

 slung our traps and were busy making the fire, when one 

 of the dogs treed a bird a few rods aAvay, giving Avarning 

 by a sharp bark, which had the effect of ■keeping the bird 

 on the tree, as well as of bringing Sam and Isaac to the spot. 

 It took them a good while to see the bird. Indeed, Sam 

 couldn't see it at all: s© Isaac bagg-ed it 



"Every man to his bud," s*aid Jerry, with a quiet laugh, 



