"S. left here two days ago to work on a ranche, and I am not very sorry for it, as he would neither save nor try and push along; so at present I am without a partner in this wild life. "In my last I told you I was not feeling very well, so I went up on the mountains from the valley to Lake 'Abundance,' and I send you herewith a short account of my excursion.... I am sorry to say that churches are out of the question here. The old miners are a perfectly godless set, and if they were to catch sight of what they call a 'sky pilot' he would swing." "FISHING AMONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. "Just a line to tell you of a little fishing expedition that I went on with a friend. We started from here, Cook's City (? city, there are only a few log cabins), at daybreak on one of those mornings only known to early risers, cool, with slight delicious breezes fanning the valley of pines. We took with us a pack-horse to carry our blankets, grub, &c., and I must here mention that a man soon learns to pack, there being very little both as to quantity and size—two blankets each, ten pounds of flour, coffee, bacon, frying-pan, and coffee-pot completing the outfit. "Our way took us over a steep mountain leading through forests, down again to a long plateau with a rushing torrent as its centre, until we again ascended to a high divide or rocky ridge, whence we caught sight of our lake, some four miles distant, shut in between the bases of surrounding mountains. "I must not forget the charming view we had from the divide. Far away for the distance of quite eighty miles could be seen mountain after mountain rising in the clear, though mighty rare, atmosphere, some looking like ancient castles, others as flat as tables, all bare and rugged from above timber line. After a pipe and look to the trappings of our pack-saddle, we started to descend, and camped within a mile of the lake, near a creek of clear snow water. A breakfast the next morning of bacon, coffee, and bread cooked in frying-pan, at the cooking of which I am quite an expert, and we started for the lake, catching grasshoppers on our way before the sun had made them shed their overcoats and get too lively.