The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 25, 1896, Page 16

16 THE SAN.FRA ISCO CALL, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1896 THE NIGHT When Witch and_ Devil Are Abroad No night 1n the year is invested by pop- ular imagination with & more peculiar character than that of October 31, or Hallow Eve. Glendower asserts that any one can then call up spirits ‘from the vasty deep.” It is said that all devils and witehes are abroad, while fairies hold high carnival. Hallow Eve’s innumerable su- perstitions ere clearly relics of pagan timy ince they are all devoid of religious character. Nuts have always borne a most promi- nent part, as they still contnue to ao, in the festivities of Halloween. Among the English, Scotch and [rish peasantry a synonym for it is “Nut-crack night,” a name derived from the custom of cele- brating it by cracking nuts with the teeth, with hammers or by throwing them into the fire. At Ripon, in Yorkshire, another synonym for Hall s “cake night,” because on that n the mother of oc member of Goldsmith, “Vicar of Wakefield,” ners of some rastics, hat, among other customs pre- tchison, in his history of Northum- berland, compares Hallow Eve to the Ro- of Pomona, aud says that d consulting of omens are sions. ‘“Hence,” he ‘in the rural sacrifice of nuts omens are sought touching 1y, Twonuts are placed in the ¥ a young man or maiden and named f his or her sweethearts. If they n together it progznosti- the nuts bounce and i propitious.” ish poet, Gay, in his poem of “The Speil,” thus alludes to this custom: fly asund , 50 may iy nut that did so quaint old volume of poems by ublished in Dublin, 1801, “‘On Nuts Burning All Hallows’ Eve,” which also alludes to this custom, as folio hily glow! In Ireland young women place three nuts on the grate-bars. One that cracks s lover, while one is a true one. They burn the shells of nuts eaten on Hallow Eve aud cause snails to crawl through the “religiously crack | py marriage or a hopeful love, | | ashes and so trace the initials of the future | husband. Apples bear a prominent part in the diversions and superstitions of Hal- loween. Every one knows what capi- tal sport it is to let a number of them float in a washtub and have blindfolded young- sters try to spit them on a fork held in the mouth, while their hands are tied behind their back. - Another familiar custom is to swing an apple paring three times around the head and throw it on the ground, where it is believed to form the first letter of the future husband or wife’s name. In the north of England while performing this diversion it is cnstomary to repeat the following lines: I pare this pippin round and round again, My sweetheart’s name to flourish on the plain; 1 fing the unbroken paring o'er my head, My sweetheart's letter on the plain is read. A method of determining the constancy of lovers, practiced many times by every American and English girl of our day and by her mother and grandmother before her, is to place two apple seeds, each named for a lover, on the cheeks or eye- lids. The one which drops off first 1s faithless, while the other, like that Dang- l1as famous in song, ““is tender and true.” Another very old Halloween speli is to eat an apple before & mirror at midnight all alone in a remote apartment, lighting | one’s self by a solitary candle held in one | hand. Before the apvle is finished the face of the future husband or wife will be seen peering over your shoulder. Gay mentions another species of divination practiced in Jhis time with the ladyfly, popularly called the ladybug, to determine from what quarter of the compass the future busband or wife is to come. He explains it thus: This ladyfly I take from off the grass, Whose spotted back might scarlet red ‘surpass. 1edybird, north, south or east or west, 'y where the man i3 found that X love best. Scotland’s rustics regard Hallow Eve with special awe and veneration, invest- |ing it with intense mysticism and plac- ing simple, unquestioning faith in all its charms and spells. The rest of the world derive many of their Halloween customs from the Scotch. In an old book, pub- | lished in 1726, and called *‘Ye True For- tune Teller,” there is a chapter headed, “To know whether a mayde will have ye man she wishes,” in which I find the fol- lowing charm: ‘“Wear two lemon peels all day, one in each vocket. On Hallow Eve night rub ye forepost of ye bedstead with them. If ye man appear«n her sleep and present her with a couple of lemons she is to have him. If he does not there is no hove for her.” . Gay thus describes a divifiation among the English peasantry: At eve last midsummer no steep I sought, But to the field a bag of hemp seed brought; 1 scattered round the seed on every side, And three times in a trembling accent cried, This hemp seed with my virsio-hand I sow, Who shall my true love be the crop shall mow. The belief being that the future husband or wife will then be seen in the act of pufi- ing hemp. A popular Hallow Eve spell among the weaver lasses of Lancashire, England, is performed with five small slips of paper, upon three of which the damsel seeking to know her garital kismet writes the name of her three favorite swains. On the fourth she writes “Stranger,” and on the fifth *“Death.” Fach slip is then rolled into a ball, covered with moistened earth, and placed in & dish of cold water. The water dissolves the earth, liberating the slips of paper. Whichever slip first rises to the surface tells the maiden’s fate, If it bear a name she'will wed the person indicated; if it bear the word ‘‘Stranger’’ she will marry some one then unknown to her, and should it display the word “Death” she will die unmarried. In “*Mother Bunch’s Closet Newly Broke Open,” a very old book of folk lore, I find the following: “If a mayde would know ‘what manner of fortune she shall wed—a gentleman, a tradesman or a traveler— let her on Hallow Eve take a walnut, a hazelnut and a nutmeg; grate and mix clock strikes that hour the future husband of her who is to be married first will enter and lay his hand upon the part of the cake marked with her name. Notaword must be spoken during the whole proceed- ing, and hence the name “‘dumb cake.” > ity E In the Mexican Gapital. No festivals throughout the year are hailed by the Mexicans with greater de- light than those of All Hallow Eve—the night preceding All Hallowmas, or All Saints’ day and All Souls’ day. The for- mer was introduced by the church becaunse of the impossibility of keeping a separate day for every saint, while the object of the latter is to alleviate by prayers and alms- giving the sufferings of the souls in purga- tory. The religious aspects of these festi- vals is somewhat overtopped in Mexico, WHEN FAIRIES HOLD HIGH C with innumerable booths, within which are displayed by the light of thousands of tallow candles, around which shades of white paper have been placed to increase their power, every conceivable variety of holiday wares. Nuts, raisins, oranges, figs, tortillas, bananas, candies, pulque, cakes, toys, hot sausages and notions are visible in endless profusion. There are occasions when appetite, - which is common to both cléwns and gentle- men, is strangely tempted by such public. ministry and display of eatables, and doubtless did not ‘*‘the mode” and point of honor—sadly misplaced by both sexes — whisper forbearanee more than one lechuguino (Anglace dude) and delicate senorita would be seen devouring, with a hearty relisb, morsels intended for the more homely mouths of peons. Troops of young brats, trusting to their HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL them with butter and sugar into pills, and take at bedtime. Then, if her fortune be to marry a gentleman her sleep will be filled with golden dreams; if a tradesman, she will dream of odd noises and tumults; if a traveler, there will be thunder and lightning disturb her.” In England’s northern counties the “‘domb cake” is made between 11 o’clock and midnight on Hallow Eve. Any number of young women participate. Each placesa handful of flour on a sheet of white paper and sprinkles it over with a pinch of salt. Then one makes it into dough with spring water. Each must roll the dough, spread it out and mark her initials on it with a new pin. While baking before the fire each must turn it once, meanwhile sitting as far from it as possible. All this must be done before midmght, and when the IN THE GRAND PLAZA IN FRONT OF THE MEXICAN CATHEDRAL. however, by social observances, and even the most devout Christians after attending mass early in the morning of each day, de- vote themselves completely for the re- mainder of the twenty-four hours to having a good time. The night of October 31, All Hallow Eve, is observed here with a universahty which is not to be met with in our own country, and in a very different fashion. At 7 o'clock on that night fancy your- self mingled with a crowd of people who are pouring along the Caile de San Fran- cisco into the Plaza Mayor, within whose elegant zocolo a Government military band is sending forth strains of delicious music. Both the Plaza Mayor and the Plaza de la Constitucion present a most briiliant sight. They had been converted into a temporary fair ground crowded legs and lungs to procure them customers, go winding through the crowd offering circles of flour paste fried in oil, which are laid upon a long lath, held in the mid- dle to prevent it from breaking. It is surprising to see how rapidly the laths are eased of their burdens and the brittle fry consumed. The kitchen is not far off, and two cooks, in their shirtsleeves, are busily engaged in producing fresh supplies. One of these keeps a large iron pan over a stand of charcoal, where it fries and hisses most inviting!y, while the other, seated before a vessel filled with water and a pan containing the flour paste, forms the cake in a moment and draws it out into a hol- low ring. Thence he flings it into the bubbling oil, where it browns and swells into a crisp mouthful. But in all this heterogeneous collection ARNIVAL The of wares, what strikes a foreigner as strangest of all are the numerous quaint articles designed to be purchased as souv- enirs of the occasion. Students of owd English customs bave heard of socl cakes, a sort of bun which good-natured peoPIa‘ used to prepare in large numbers to give to children, who used to g0 about from house to house on Hallow Eve singing a song and demanding the “goul cake” as a reward, but the booths in the Plaza Mayor on Hallow Eve display soul cakes which, for appropriateness and elaborate design, far surpass the Halloween buns of old England, They consist of three layers of cake so placed as to form three steps, covered with white icing, and leading up to & chocolate cross at the extremity of the topmost layer or step. Upon each of the other layers there is some désign in chocolate intended to remind the pur- chaser of the solemn occasion the cake was meant to commemorate, such as skulls, bones- and cof- fins. Catafalques, made of wood and painted black, from six inches to two and a half feet in height and from three inches to two feet square, are also a highly popular article of merchandise. Some of them consist of several platforms rising one above the other, elaborately draped with black cloth and emblazoned 1n gilt with crosses, skulis, bones and cof- fins. There are skeletons of every imag- inable size and material upon-tue counter of every booth, some of them poor, cheap affairs of paper, many of candy and oth- ers elaborately constructed of wood and joined se@ that the puiling of a string wonld cause them to dance and caper in a weirdly comical way. Some of them are fantastically dressed like ballet dancers and are surrounded by groups of candy skulls, All classes seem to have turned out to purchase these mementos of the time. Men and women of wealth and culture, accompanied by beautifully dressed, merry chiidren, their hands filled with soul cakes, skeletons, catafalques and candy skulls, elbow and are elbowed by the poor peons, who are spending the few coppers they have laid by so carefully for the occasion. It is a peried of universal merriment and rejoicing—s feast and joy- ous carnival without masks. The shouts and vociferations of the light-hearted crowd and their boundings and gambols in the shadow of the grand old cathedral, which for over 200 years has stood at the head of the plaza, are such as mightat first lead one to think that the inmates of that philanthropic establishment, the Casa de Locos (lunatic asylum) bad forced the bolts and bars and exchanged their strait waistcoats for others of a more elastic and becoming model, while above all there arises from the zocolo strains of such music as we seldom or never hear in the States, for the playing of a Mexican Government military band is a revelation of the possibilities of such an organiza- tion. The dawn of November 1, All Saints’ day, finds the half a hundred magnificent temples of worship which the Catholic church has reared in the Mexican capital : alloween Festival in Mexico crowded with devout worshipers, while through the nave and up among the vast arches of the magnificent cathedral re- sound such music of the mass as seems of heaven rather than of earth. No sooner is the mass concluded than the fun again grows fast and furious. In the beautiful Alameda everything betokens a holiday. There, as in the Plaza Mayor, a fine mili- tary band plays all day long. The entire place is given up to the enjoyment of the pleasure-seeker. There is no prohibitory “Keep off the grass’; perfect and com- plete equality reign in the Alameda to- day. The poor peon and his sweetheart are as free to stroll and sit upon the green sward as theelaborately dressed lechuguino and his pipa. The theaters arein full blast. Every one of them gives a daily matinee during the continuance of the festival, even when one of its days falls on Sunday. If you want grand opera you can have it at the Teatro Nacional in the Calle de Vergara. If your vpreference is for opera bouffe you may indulge it at the Teatro Arbeau in the Calie de San Felips Neri. But greater even than the festivities of All Saints’ day are those of All Squls’ day. For this latter festival the church is said to be indebted to a pilgrim; who, while re- turning from the Holy Land in 993, was compelled by a storm to land on a roc: isle somewhere between Sicily and Thes« salonica, where he found a hermit,who told him that among the cliffs of the island was situated the opening into the under world, through which flames as- cended, while the groans of the souls tor« tured by evil spirits were plainly audible. Through this opening the hermit had also frequently heard the complaints and im- precations of the demons st the number of souls that were torn from them by the prayers and alms of the pious, and they were especially enraged on that account against the pious abbot and monks of Clugny. After hearing the hermit’s tale the pilgrim proceeded to the monastery of Clugny, where bie acquainted Abbot Odilo with what he had learned, whereupon the abbot appointed the day immediately fol- lowing All Saints’ day to be kept in his monastery as an annual festival for “all souls.”” The observance was quickly adopted by the whole Catholic world. There is another account, which repre- sents the festival to have been established at Sicily in the year 993. In Mexico the festival of All Soulsis a national decoration day, suggesting our observance of the 30th of May, but while we decorate only the graves of soldiers, the Mexicans place flowers, wreaths and all kinds of elaborate floral designs upon the last resting-places of all their loved ones who have passed before them through the dark valley of the shadow of death. From early morn until duskon All Saints’ day the cemeteries of San Fernando and Do- Jores are crowded with people visiting and decorating the graves of their dead. The night is given over to general jollification. THE UNTIMELY TAKING OFF “I never had but one experience at close | range with a real out and out bad Indian, and nothing much came of that; butit wasn’t his fault that I kept my scalp,” said Frank C—, as he tipped his chair back in the shade of the old adobe wall and rocked it sideways into a comfortable eliing. ] back in the sixties. Wait: tell you about it.”” He paused to fill his briarwood and we composed ourselves 1o the hearing of an interesting story. ‘Wehad met together this hot July after- noon, after many years of wandering through the West, and in the reunion each of the little group had some instance to recall of old Nevada days, particularly of our Indian experience The Padre had just finished recounting the mysterious disappearance of Sacra- mento Sam, a sub-chief of the Piutes, whose record as an extra bad Indian stood unchallenged. m had a choice band of well-drilled red devils that held the coun- try out around Indian Creek Canvon, and who acted under his direct supervision in any of the outrages perpetrated on the whites. They kept aloof irom settlements, except on the occasion of raids, and never made any pretense of a friendly attitude toward the whites. Sacramento Sam, while in reslity their chief, commonly made his home among the whites in the capacity of spy. 1t was the Padre who related the cir- cumstances connected with Sam’s last ap- vearance in public on any stage. Sam had, for a brief period, been unusually friendly to the whites, which meant, of course, that he was preparing some dia- bolical piece of work. People were sus- picious, and in consequence on guard. One day he appeared ata camp in the valley; the object of his visit being, os- tensibly, to beg some tobacco. Half a dozen of the boys were there—miners and a teamster or two—and they noticed that he carried asmall pack, which consider- ing its size seemed suspiciously heavy. Two of them engaged his attention, while two others constituted themselves an in- vestigating committee, the result being that they found it to contain thirty or forty pounds of powder, caps and.bullets— taken no doubt from some murdered teamster’s outfit. Presently he shook hands n his friend- liest manner, and in his limited vocab- ulary—aided largely by signs—told he was moing to his wickiup among the ‘‘heap good Injins” over at Table Mountain. He was allowed to go and went pigeon- toeing his way down the trail leading | toward Table Mountain until, when feel- ing sure of being out of sight of the camp, he suddenly swung to the right, and be- hind the shelter of tall greasewood, the moccasined feet struck out into the In- dian’s tireless dog-trot, away from Table Mountain and toward the hostiles in In- dian Creek Canyon. But Sacramento 8am had reckoned with- out his host and the aid which science brought to bear upon white men’s strength of vision when she invented the field glass. Two of the men watching, glass in hand, ‘from a rise on the plain saw the old spy chief beading straight for the hostile camp. After a brief conference with their comrades they decided that Sam bad got “‘mixed on the points of the compass and needed a guide if he expected to reach Table Mountain that night.” Those were not the days when men talked much when deciding upon action. | A few terse words before they looked to their rifles, a tightening of girths before they swung into their saddles, and a sar- donic smile as one of them called back, | “Well, =0 long, boys; we’il put Sacra- | mento Sam on the right trail; good-night; see you again before mornin’.” And they did. They came back before dawn, with tired horses, and each carried fifteen or twenty pounds of ammunition—powder, caps and bullets—which they said they found (?) on the trail. They also said that they had not seen Sacramento Sam. And their comrades asked no guestions. Cer- tain it was that no one else ever saw him again. It was one of the mysterious disap- pearancas of those troublous times. He never reached Indian Creek Canyon—nei- ther did he go to Table Mountain. Heg vanished bedily from the sight of men— and the world knew him no more. But the Padre, as he finished his story, hinted that—a dead Indian being a good Indian—tnere were two men who might have aided in the apotheosis of Sacra- mento Sam, We sat silenta momgnt reflecting unon the changes brought about by the advent of the railroad in the protection -1t gives the settler. The signal fires no longer burn by night upon the mountains, nor by day do the tall spirals of across the valley to threads of smoke that answer back. No longer do we lie down in fear and trembling of the soft tread of moccasined feet creeping in the silence of night to our doors, or the painted face | broke in upon our musing, and our reve- peering in at our windows, or the hand | ries were put to flight. We turned to the that brandished torch and scalping-knife peing lifted as of old. The red man, no smoke send a message | speaker and settled ourselves into atti- tudes of attention. F BLAC ticular made things remarkably lively for the settlers here, and when every man went with his heart in his throat and his rifle in hand. Why, a jackrabbit jump- FRUSTRATION OF TH’E SPY’S DESIGN. matter what his inherent' tendencies may 6ty is assured. We see— t The briarwooa had been filled, and was | ing up from behind a sagebrush would be, is held in check. Peace is about. us; | held unlighted in his hand. “It was in thosq days when our red “It was in ’65 or '66' Frank's voice | brothers in general and the Piutes in par- nearly scare the life out of a fellow ! ‘‘Well, there were some boys who had a station over in Rabhit-hole Pass for the ROEK FOM ° emigrant teams that went by on their way into California. They had cut quiteacrop of hay over at Mud Meadows (the wild grass used to grow there higher than a man's head), and had stacked it ready to haul to Rabbit-hole. But the Indians were getting pretty bad, and the boys (there were only two of them) were afraid to go over after it alone. So they came down here and got some of us fellows to go with them—armed, of course. There were seven of us in all; and we made the trip from Rabbit-hole Pass across the big desert to Mud Meadows all right, and didn’t see a sign of an Indian. “And though some one stood guard that night while the rest slept we heard no Indians about to disturbus. Early the next morning we got our load on and tried to haul out of the meadows; but it was boggy in there, and we got mired, and the oxen balked, and we had a deuce of a time generally, so that it was almost sundown before we got out of the miry places and on solid ground, ready for the next day’s start. You see, what we hoped to have done was to get out on the desert where it was as flat asa billiard-table, and there was no brush abcut fora Piute to skulk along behind snd get within shooting range of us. After we had pulled out to solid ground, as I say, we unyoked our oxen and got supper, and it was just get- ting toward dark when who should come down to the camp but that old chiel devil of devils, old Black Rock Tom? We knew him for what he was the most treacher- ous old cut-throat that tha good Lord ever let live. We knew that he would just as soon send us all to Kingdom Come as to bring down an antelope, but what could we do? We knew he was down there for no good, although he said he was after tobacco, and that he was ‘heap good Injin.’ “We knew how much stock to takée in his yarn, but we shook hands with him and told him ‘helio!’ and gave him some tobacco, keeping a sharp lookout all the while for stray redskins that might creep up on us unaware. After he had taken a pretty thorough survey of our situation he got up and said, ‘Goody-by; I go now; goody-by,’ and was about to uufl, when one of the boys jumped up and caught him by the shoulders, saying: ‘No you don't, my friend!" You'il stay with us to-night. We couldn’t think of letting you go back to your “good Injins” to-night. We'll just keep you here where weo can keep an eve on you till we get out of the country.” AvicE DANA BOARDMAN. The old rascal looked pretty sullen an ugly, but it was no use. We kept him there; at the point of our rifles making him lie down in the wagon. It wasn't long before we saw the®signal fires burn- ing in the mountains about us. The old spy-hostile had planned a reid, and his men were only aweiting his return to come down on us. *“We kept him a prisoner, and they didn’t know where he was, nor what was to pay, nor anything. Several times through the night we heard lurk- ing savages in the brush, but we held guns on old Tom, and he didn’t dare to call out to‘them. & “When daylight came—and I cab tell youit seemed a long time coming—we saw that the coast was clear and we got out of there preity lively. We took old Black Rock Tom with us until we were well on 1o the desert, where we could look out for ourselves, Then we let him go. As he got down off the wagon we toid him to ‘Get! and lively, too!’ You ought to have seen him go! He wasa good sprinter, and we had atfine view of him as he traveled over the level desert, *“We got back to Rabbit-hole Pass that night; and that was the last I ever saw of Black Rock Tom. “A short time after thata detachment of soldiers captured him and were taking him to Fort Churchill to investigate his case. When they got down to Hank Sprague’s station, some of them went if to get a drink, and Jeft old Black Rock Tom standing in the doorway. There were people who afterward said thatit was a put-up job between Hank and the soldiers—for Hank knew that if Tom lried) to get away the solaiers would shoot him sure—but however that might be Idon’t know; anyway, Hank motioned to the ola fellow torun. And run hedid. The soldiers called to him to ‘halt’ and Hank' velled ‘Run! run!” “Naturally the Indian took the advice that suited him best, and—well of course the soldiers aid their duty. And that was the last of Black Rock Tom.” Frank drew the match across his knee and applied the blaze to the pipe, now held between his teetn, as he said: “And (puff). a little Indian boy (puff) that Hank was maising (puff) concluded it was apout time (puff) for him to go, too; (puff) so he jumped on Hank's best herse (puff), and that was the (puff) last Hank ever saw of that horse.” IpaH MEACHAM STROBRIDGE. EXCITING SPORT *In the wild region west of the Yellow- stone National Park where I have been,” said Haswel! W, Baldwin of Zanesville, Ohio, to a CaLL representative a day or two ago, “‘there are bands of magnificent elk, bear, blacktailed deer and an oc- casional jbex. it is one of the finest hunt- ing seciions on the continent. For elk it |. cannot be beat.” Mr. Baldwin had just arrived from the mountain wilds. S “Itis what is known as the Gallatin Basin and to get there you must go upthe rugged canyon of the Gallatin, a distance of fifty miles. I was accompanied by H. D. Atwood of Pittsburg, who is here with me now. We went on some stout, sure- looted Montana broncos accompanied by two guides and having four pack horses bearinz our equipage and rigged for bringing out any meat or skins we might get. The guides were skilled modntaineers, ready shots and could pitch a camp and get up something steaming hot to eat as quick as anybody, *The canyon, which is very wild and pretty, is at the northwest corner of the park. Our track led along this canyon, and in many places it wasso steep we could not keep our saddles but had to get off and walk. Even walking was in places almost an impossibility. We had to liter- ally crawl along. d *The air is very pure there and the sun shines with a rare brightness. I never was {in & more healthful place, it seemed to me, IN TRAILLING BIG ELK IN THE and as I had gone to these mountains for my health I was suited exactly. _*It was not long until we got into the dominion of the elk, the Gallatin Basin, This is alittle lower than the National Park, and at this season of the year the elk are coming down from the snow in the heights for the milder temperature of tho basin. We were armed with 45-caliber Winchester rifles, carrying 70 grains of vowder. Besides these, however, we had one Winchester of the same caliber that carried 90 grains of powder. Thus we were well equipped for long-1ange work. “qn!xpec(odly to us we saw a great many elk, for, you know, you often hear a great deal about the plentifulness of game, especially big game, but when you get there you don’t see any. But in this case we did. There were lots of elk, and they were as fine as any sportsman could wish to see. “I saw band after band, but after we had killed what we wanted we shot no more, forit would be useless, almost criminal, to kill what we could not use. In short, we only shot one apiece, and of these one got away. We trailed this elk for a miie ora mile and a half by his blood. If there had been snow we would have got him, but as it whs the elic’s trail led overdry ground, in some plases covered with lea nd we at length lost him, Isup- ) like enough, he died. “A full-grown elk is an enormous ani- mal—almost as big a8 a beof—and far- nishes a surprising amount of meat, as well as weight, if you are packing the meat any distance. Bo there were plenty | of reasons why we did not want to engage in wanton destruction. _ “‘The elk we saw were usually some dis- tance away in the mountains, and above us. When we decided to make a foray for any we would work round and crawl up the mountains to within gunshot of them. We always tried to keep on the windward side, for an elk, we found, could smell you faster than you could see him. “In this way we moved on bands that when first discovered were from one to two miles away. ““When the elk run they go in bunohes, while deer go singly or in pairs, I saw GALLATIN BASIN one band of fifteen elk and another of ten, out of both of which we made killings. The eik all ran togetherand wers bunched ap like so many frightened cattle, “I saw a sight there I shall never forget. It was awe-inspiring, and in a ‘sense el nobling, A band of prodigious elk that we had sighted and that had smelled or seen us swept down an almost perpendic- ular bank and disappeared in the timber below. “The elk went almost straight down, and as swift as the wind, How they got down without being dashed to atoms was passing strange to me, but the elk poured over tho decline like a living stream, and dld it as easily and gracefully as a stream of water falls from a cliff, “We were in the basin three days, and enjoyed ourselves to the utmost.. Along our route, and even in the basin, there were some deserted cabins, and of some of these we took possession. We cooked onr teaks and with some fresh trout from the streams, with the eatables we had brought along, we had some repasts that were royal. “WThere are plenty of blacktailed aeer in the basin, too. The day before we gt there a big cinnamon bear was kiiled, \fit we saw no bear, mainly, I presume, ve- cause we were looking for another and bigger kind of game. ‘“The basin, I may say, is a sort of garden of wonders as regards the fine and big game of the country,