which we were in search. The descent was here so steep that we were obliged to dismount from our animals and lead them down. Our progress was now necessarily rapid, and we soon reached the base of the mountain. Here we suddenly came upon four men, who had come out a few days before us from MacDonald's to amuse themselves in hunting the grizzly bear. We reached this place at four o'clock, a distance of but sixteen miles, after a most fatiguing journey; although the beauty and variety of the scenery well repaid us for the effort. As there was still a descent of five hundred feet to the stream, and a mile to the geysers, we determined to leave their examination till morning, and devote the remainder of the day to rest and the preparation of our dinner.

As the hunters had nothing but bear's meat in store, three of them took their rifles and went out to procure a deer for dinner. In less than an hour all returned, each bringing with him the hind quarters of a fine deer, having been equally successful in their short hunt. While they were absent, our servant had made a fire, and got a kettle of boiling water ready for making coffee. In ten minutes after their return, the venison and bear's meat were roasting before the fire, and emitting the most appetizing odors.

The method of preparing a fine game dinner without a single cooking utensil deserves to be mentioned. First, a number of sticks are cut about two feet in length, the size of one's finger, divested of their bark, and sharpened at one end. These correspond to the spits in civilized roast-ovens. The meat is now cut up into pieces about three quarters of an inch in thickness

and half the size of one's hand, with a hole in the centre. Through these the sharpened stick is thrust, and its lower end planted in the ground before the fire. As our fare consisted of venison and bear's meat, successive layers of each were put upon the sticks, the fat of the latter, as it dripped down, basting and furnishing an excellent gravy to the former. In fifteen minutes, with occasional turning, the dinner was pronounced ready to be served up.

Being unprovided with the luxury of a table, we seated ourselves on the grass, beneath the wide-spreading boughs of a tree, and a few yards from the fire, in order to be near the kitchen, and to have our meats and coffee warm. Before each person was stuck in the ground a stick of the roasted meat. A bag of hard bread (pilot bread), some sugar, salt, and pepper, were placed near, and each man was provided with a tin cup filled with coffee. Thus furnished, and with sharp appetites, we fell to, and never was a feast more heartily appreciated. Our coffee and bread were excellent; and those who were not satisfied with one stick of meat, found another ready at the fire when the first was gone.

By the time we had finished our dinner, it was dark. We then sat for an hour or two listening to the feats and adventures related to us by the hunters before referred to, all of which were exciting and full of interest; after which, one by one, we rolled ourselves in our blankets, and dropped asleep, dreaming of grizzly bears, elk, venison, and the wild scenery we had been enjoying during the day.

March 23d. Was up by sunrise, after an excellent

night's rest; and took a bath in the waters of a little stream that tumbled down within twenty feet of our camp-fire, by which time our breakfast was ready. This was a counterpart of yesterday's dinner, viz., bear's meat, venison, hard-bread, and coffee. Having dispatched it, we set off for the geysers: Dr. Webb, with his hammer and leather bags for minerals, and with boxes and bottles for small zoological specimens ; Mr. Thurber, with his portfolio for plants; and I, with my sketch-book. We were all provided with pistols or rifles besides. It would have been easier and attended with less risk, to make the descent on foot; but we were obliged to go on horseback, on account of having to ford the stream. The river or creek was from thirty to forty feet wide where we crossed it, about half up the horse's middle, and very rapid. On either side, the banks were rocky and steep, rendering it somewhat difficult, though with steady animals not a dangerous passage. About a quarter of a mile from the opposite bank we dismounted, unsaddled our animals, and staked them out to feast themselves on the rich clover which there abounded, and then completed our journey on foot. A few hundred yards brought us to the first of the geysers, or "volcanoes," as they were called by our guide. I should not forget to remark, that we saw in several ravines, as we passed along, traces of former volcanic action. The rocks were bare, and in a decomposed state, showing the effects of heat or fire, although no heat was then perceptible.

At the first place we stopped, there was a show of about half an acre of decomposed granite, and other rocks, from cavities in which issued fumes of sulphur

and small quantities of steam. At these places were beds of crystallized sulphur; and in others, sulphur was exposed on turning up with a stick the exterior crust. There was every appearance around us that the rocks had been subjected to an intense heat, which was now gradually abating. After collecting specimens of the sulphur and adjacent rocks, we continued further up.

Another quarter of a mile, over steep hills and across deep ravines, brought us to the principal "geysers.' Here was truly a grand prospect, and difficult to describe by one unacquainted with such scenes; for to speak with scientific precision of such a remarkable spot as this, the writer should be familiar with volcanic regions and know something of similar phenomena. The action here was confined within a narrow ravine, in the mountain side, running nearly at right angles with Pluton River, which we had crossed. The banks were from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty feet in height, breaking in from the mountain, which rose up from ten to fifteen hundred feet above, and were wholly composed of decomposed rocks. In the chasm beneath us, columns of steam were spouting out on every side; while deep at the bottom, ran a small rivulet. Vegetation of luxuriant growth crowded close upon the crumbling rocks, consisting of various kinds of shrubbery, pines, oaks, firs, &c.

We clambered down to the spot where the scoria or burnt rock first appeared, and seated ourselves under the shade of a pine tree. From this point I took a sketch looking down the gorge. On each side of where we sat, some twenty or thirty feet below, a