cans, geese, herons, brants,
sand-hill cranes, and many varieties of ducks. An island in view was
literally white with the numbers of pelicans which had taken up their
abode upon it. We had also seen many other birds during the day--eagles,
hawks, ravens, ospreys, prairie-chickens, grouse, mocking-birds, and
woodpeckers; while we caught sight of several kinds of deer, elk, and
mountain sheep. Even buffalo had made their way into the valley. Grizzly
bears and panthers, too, we had good reason to fear, abounded, and were
likely to be troublesome to us.

We formed our camp on the shore of the lake, where there was fuel in
abundance; and taking my gun, in the course of a quarter of an hour I
shot geese and ducks enough to give us an ample supper, and breakfast
next morning. Manley, who was a good angler, had, in the meantime, been
fitting up a rod and line--for he had brought hooks with him; and I
found, when I got back, that he and the sergeant had caught a dozen
salmon-trout, between a pound and a pound and a half in weight. Their
colour was of a light gray above, and a pale yellow below. The dorsal
and caudal fins were dark gray, and the others mostly of a brilliant
orange or bright yellow.

We calculated that the lake was fully twenty miles long, and not less
than fifteen broad in its widest part; and had we not been in a hurry to
proceed on our journey, we agreed that we would have willingly spent
some days in this enchanting spot. However, this was not to be thought
of.

We kept up a blazing fire all night, and consequently escaped a visit
from either grizzly or panther. The question now was, "How were we to
cross the lake?" We were none of us much accustomed to boating, although
Sergeant Custis knew more about it than either Manley or I. At first we
talked of building a canoe, but the sergeant suggested that, as it would
take some time to construct one, it would be better to form a raft,
which could be put together in a few hours.

"If the water remains as quiet as it does at present, we can soon paddle
to the other side; and we can also rig a mast and yard, on which we can
make a very good sail with our blankets," he observed.

At daylight we commenced to build a raft. There were logs enough of
every size and length in the forest, and we selected those only which we
could drag with ease to the water's edge. Lithe vines, of which there
were plenty hanging to the trees, served instead of ropes, and with
these we