d "civilized" men. If they are not destroyed by our diseases
or our drink, they are by our weapons.

We are now running along the banks of the sluggish Humboldt river, up
to almost its source in the mountains near the head of the Great Salt
Lake. We cross the winding river from time to time on trestle-bridges;
and soon we are in amongst the mountains again, penetrating a gorge,
where the track is overhung by lofty bluffs; and climbing up the
heights, we shortly leave the river, foaming in its bed, far beneath
us. Steeper and higher rise the sides of the gorge, until suddenly
when we round a curve in the canyon, I see the Devil's Peak, a large
jagged mass of dark-brown rock, which, rising perpendicularly, breaks
up into many points, the highest towering majestically above us to a
height of 1400 feet above the level of the track. This is what is
called the "Ten Mile Canon;" and the bold scenery continues until we
emerge from the top of the gorge. At last we are in the open sunlight
again, and shortly after we draw up at the Elko station.

We are now evidently drawing near a better peopled district than that
we have lately passed through. Two heavy stage coaches are drawn up
alongside the track, to take passengers to Hamilton and Treasure City
in the White Pine silver-mining district, about 126 miles distant. A
long team of mules stand laden with goods, destined for the diggers of
the same district. Elko is "not much of a place," though I should not
wonder if it is called a "City" here. It mostly consists of what in
Victoria would be called shanties--huts built of wood and canvas--some
of the larger of them being labelled "Saloon," "Eating-house,"
"Drug-store," "Paint-shop," and such like. If one might judge by the
number of people thronging the drinking-houses, the place may be
pronounced prosperous.

Our course now lies through valleys, which look more fertile, and are
certainly much more pleasant to pass along than those dreary Nevada
plains. The sun goes down on my second day in the train; as we are
traversing a fine valley with rolling hills on either side. The ground
again becomes thickly covered with snow, and I find we are again
ascending a steepish grade, rising a thousand feet in a distance of
about ninety miles, where we again reach a total altitude of 6180 feet
above the sea.

At six next morning, I found we had reached Ogden in the territory of
Utah. During the night we had passed "The Great American Deser