in soup-making. In her garden were many others
of which I only know the names; but three of them, the `kamas,' the
`kooyah,' and `yampah' roots are worth mentioning, as thousands of the
miserable Indians who inhabit the American Desert subsist chiefly on
them. The widely scattered tribes known as the `Diggers,' take their
name from the fact of their digging for, and living upon, these roots.

"The flowers now came out in full bloom; and some of the openings near
the upper end of the valley were a sight to behold. They were literally
covered with beautiful blossoms--_malvas, cleomes, asclepiae_, and
_helianthi_. We frequently visited this part, making pic-nic excursions
to all the places of note in our little dominion. The cataract where
the stream dashed over the cliff, the salt spring, and such-like places,
formed points of interest; and we rarely failed in any of these
excursions to draw some useful lesson from the school of Nature.
Indeed, Mary and I frequently designed them, for the purpose of
instructing our children in such of the natural sciences as we ourselves
knew. We had no books, and we illustrated our teachings by the objects
around us.

"One day we had strayed up as usual among the openings. It was very
early in the spring, just as the flowers were beginning to appear. We
had sat down to rest ourselves in the middle of a glade, surrounded by
beautiful magnolias. There was a bed of large blue flowers close by;
and Frank, taking little Mary by the hand, had gone in among them to
gather a bouquet for his mother. All at once the child uttered a
scream, and then continued to cry loudly! Had she been bitten by a
snake? Alarmed at the thought, we all started to our feet, and ran for
the spot. The little creature still cried--holding out her hand, which
we at once perceived was the seat of the pain. The cause of it was
evident--she had been stung by a bee. No doubt she had clasped a
flower, upon which some bee had been making his honey, and the angry
insect had punished such a rude interference with his pleasures.

"As soon as the child had been pacified by a soothing application to the
wound, a train of reflection occurred to the minds of all of us. `There
are bees, then, in the place,' said we. We had not known this fact
before. In the autumn previous we had been too busy with other things
to notice them; and of course during the winter season they were not to
be seen. They were just now com