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The Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone Park, Etc.

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lower portion rises in steps." Speaking of the prismatic coloring of the water he says: About the middle of the day, when the bright rays descend nearly vertically, and a slight breeze makes just a ripple on the surface, the colors exceed comparison; when the surface is calm there is one vast chaos of colors, dancing, as it were, like the colors of a kaleidoscope. As seen through this marvelous play of colors, the decorations on the sides of the basin are lighted up with a wild, weird beauty, which wafts one at once into the land of enchantment: all the brilliant feats of fairies and genii in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments are forgotten in

the actual presence of such marvelous beauty; life becomes a privilege and a blessing after one has seen and felt its cunning skill."

MRS. MERRIMAN: I think I shall move that when we adjourn for the season we do so to meet next August in the Park of the Yellowstone.

MRS. VICTOR: I was going to say that all this volcanic energy so near the surface is suggestive of earthquakes, which occasionally take place in this region.

KATE: Then I object. I had rather do my sight-seeing in this way.

MR. GOLDUST: People on the Pacific coast, which is occasionally visited by earthquakes, do not dread them more than the people in the Eastern States dread thunder-storms, nor do I think they do nearly so much damage.

AUNT HARRIET: I sometimes think that it is a mercy we are not left to live and die without some evidences of the mighty and awful forces in the universe.

MRS. WARLIKE: They make us feel our insignificance and powerlessness, and perhaps they turn us in thought towards the great Father for forgiveness and

mercy.

DR. PAULUS: And yet man alone of all created things on this globe is gifted with the power of scientific research, even as he is with the faculty of discerning between good and evil. We can feel the deep significance of the psalmist's words: 'Lord what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels; and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hand; thou hast put all things under his feet."

THE PRESIDENT: Undoubtedly, man is a creature of mingled strength and weakness, and if he alone in the universe were capable of rising in thought and feeling above the finite, then were his position sad indeed. But if these mighty forces in nature are the works of an infinitely wise, holy, and gracious Being, the devout and humble-minded have every ground for hope and confidence in the tendency of things. As Scripture has been quoted I would again remind you of a passage from the Sacred Word, which always speaks eloquently to me, though it occurs in a sort of parenthesis (1 Cor. 8:5). "For though there be that are called God, whether in heaven or on earth; as there are gods many and lords many; yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we unto Him.'

MRS. VICTOR: I have reached almost the end of my notes and sketches, though I confess that I have not exhausted one-quarter of even the imperfect materials at my command. But there are many other noteworthy places for us to see, and too much time must not be given to any one of them. Here in these vast regions of mountain, forest, and desert, we seem to draw very close to the mysterious and awful powers of the universe. of the universe. It is not all mere beauty in these mighty wilds, but beauty combined with awe-inspiring grandeur. How appropriate the thought of Milton, that much-neglected though always-praised poet, in the lines familiar to some of us from childhood:

THE PRESIDENT: I think you have another sketch in your portfolio.

MRS. VICTOR: I had almost forgotten. Before we leave this upper Rocky Mountain region, or rather while we are upon the wing, I want you to accompany me for an aerial trip of a few minutes to a magnificent scene on the Snake River. The Shoshone Falls in Idaho are amphitheatrical in appearance. The Snake River here runs through a long and deep cañon formed by the action of its waters upon basaltic rocks. The falls are nearly a mile in width, and the adjacent rocks seven or eight hundred feet high. The descent of the main fall is about 400 feet, and below the cataract the sides of the cañon rise to a height of a thousand feet or Besides the Shoshone Falls there are other fine cataracts. The illustration gives a capital view of this weird spot.

more.

CHAPTER X.

THE PLAINS AND PRAIRIES.

HE Fourth Conversational Tour of the J. U. T. C. was held at the house of Colonel Warlike.

The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Resolved, That the Secretary write out, at her convenience, and from her notes of the conversations, a full report of each meeting, and that the same be revised by the President, with a view to publication in a book form.

The conversation was begun by Colonel Warlike.

I am afraid, said the gallant Colonel, that I am not a very good hand at talking; but if the Club thinks that I can contribute in any way to its entertainment, I am willing to do my best.

Of course, you cannot expect that I can entertain you with many pictures of romantic scenery. The prairies and the plains of America do not present many striking objects for the artist's pencil; but in their vast extent they give one an idea of immensity from quite a different standpoint from the mountains. The prairies were at one time, not so long ago, the frontier lands. They lie between Ohio and Michigan, on the east, and the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains, but they do not, as you know, comprise the whole of this vast region. The western

part of Ohio has some prairie lands, so has Michigan towards the south. Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, the northern part of Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, Dakota and Texas, are essentially prairie States; but the more easterly of these are well settled, and cultivated farms have taken the place of the wild lands once roamed by the buffalo and the savage Indian. Here is a view of what were once rolling prairie lands in Kansas. The scenery is diversified by trees, following the course of the river streams, but as you proceed farther west the trees disappear, except in the ravines, and on a few bluffs and ridges. Nothing but tall, rank,

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