ng the mountain on our right. The Colonel is a good thinker,
an excellent conversationalist, and a very learned man. Geology is his
darling, and he keeps one eye on the enemy, and the other on the rocks.

10. My tent is on the bank of the Valley river. The water, clear as
crystal, as it hurries on over the rocks, keeps up a continuous murmur.

There will be a storm to-night. The sky is very dark, the wind rising,
and every few minutes a vivid flash of lightning illuminates the valley,
and the thunder rolls off among the mountains with a rumbling, echoing
noise, like that which the gods might make in putting a hundred trains
of celestial artillery in position.

11. Lieutenant Bowen, of topographical engineers, and myself, with ten
men, carrying axes and guns, started up the mountain at seven o'clock
this morning, followed a path to the crest, or dividing ridge, and
felled trees to obstruct the way as much as possible. Returned to camp
for dinner.

During the afternoon Lieutenant W. O. Merrill, Lieutenant Bowen, and I,
ascended the mountain again by a new route. After reaching the crest, we
endeavored to find the path which Lieutenant Bowen and I had traveled
over in the morning, but were unable to do so. We continued our search
until it became quite dark, when the two engineers, as well as myself,
became utterly bewildered. Finally, Lieutenant Merrill took out his
pocket compass, and said the camp was in that direction, pointing with
his hand. I insisted he was wrong; that he would not reach camp by
going that way. He insisted that he would, and must be governed by some
general principles, and so started off on his own hook, leaving us to
pursue our own course. Finally Bowen lost confidence in me, said I was
not going in the right direction at all, and insisted that we should
turn squarely around, and go the opposite way. At last I yielded with
many misgivings, and allowed him to lead. After going down a thousand
feet or more, we found ourselves in a ravine, through which a small
stream of water flowed. Following this, we finally reached the valley.
We knew now exactly where we were, and by wading the river reached the
road, and so got to camp at nine o'clock at night.

Merrill, who was governed by general principles, failed to strike the
camp directly, strayed three or four miles to the right of it, came down
in Stewart's run valley, and did not reach camp until about midnight.

On our trip to-day, we found a bear