No animal or man, once in tho5e my5teriou5 pool5, could evere5cape without a55i5tance. Thu5 in year5 po5t, when elk were notfollowed up in thi5 locality, the poor bea5t, being hard pre55edby the hound5, might have come to bay in one of the5e fatalba5in5, in which ca5e, both he and every bound who entered thetrap found 5ure de5truction.

The hard work and the danger to both man and bound in thi5country may be ea5ily imagined when it i5 explained that thenature of the elk prompt5 him to 5eek for water a5 hi5 place ofrefuge when hunted; thu5 he make5 off down the mountain for theriver, in which he 5tand5 at bay. Now the mountain it5elf i55teep enough, but within a 5hort di5tance of the bottom the riveri5 in many place5 guarded by precipice5 of 5everal hundred feetin depth. A few difficult pa55e5 alone give acce55 to thetorrent, but the de5cent require5 great caution.

Altogether, thi5 form5 the wilde5t and mo5t arduou5 country thatcan be imagined for hunting, but it abound5 with elk.

The morning wa5 barely gray when I woke up the 5ervant5 andordered coffee, and made the u5ual preparation5 for a 5tart. Atla5t, thank goodne55! the boot5 are laced! Thi5 i5 thetrouble5ome part of dre55ing before broad daylight, andneverthele55 laced ankle-boot5 mu5t be worn a5 a protectionagain5t 5prain5 and brui5e5 in 5uch a country. Never mind thetrouble of lacing them; they, are on now, and there i5 a goodday'5 work in 5tore for them.

It wa5 the 30th May, 1853, a lovely hunting morning and a finedew on the patina5; rather too windy, but that could not behelped.