struck bruin’s trail in the sand and followed it for some distance, and at length caught sight of him; but before I could salute him with a rifle-ball he entered a dark cave among the mighty rocks. We went to the mouth and dared him out; but he did not come, and we had _good reasons_ for not going in. He was a medium-sized black bear, and looked as though he might be a pretty good squeezer. The chase was now ended, and after procuring a few specimens of rock we went to camp. Will had quieted down, and upon our making fun of him and asking him why he did not shoot the bear, he said that it was so rough up among the rocks to skin an animal, and so far down to the wagon to carry the meat, that he thought the bear would follow him right into camp, where he would kill him and have it handy. The scheme would have appeared very plausible could he have explained that infernal _yelling_. Presently, upon looking upward, we saw a mountain-squirrel skipping about among the rocky ledges; and as the sharp report of a six-shooter rang out upon the evening breeze, we were delighted to know that we were to have rich squirrel-soup for supper. Night soon came on, and the blankets were spread for retiring. But Will was excited, and said that he did not calculate to take his _chances_ of going to sleep in a place where the bears were sticking among the rocks, and panthers and wild cats were working their scratchers out and in, practicing for a grab, while rattlesnakes were looking out at us from every little bunch of grass; “for,” said he, “the devil knows what may happen, and no one be awake to see it.” I felt very sure that Will would not sleep much that night; and knowing that if he saw danger he would make noise enough to awaken us and alarm even bruin himself,--as he did before,--we concluded to retire as usual, taking the precaution, however, to picket the horses close to camp, as they readily scent strange animals and snort; and this was also a guard. In the morning after breakfast we took a short ramble, looking at the many curiosities and natural beauties in and around this lovely green pass. Hundreds of names are carved or written upon the rocks here; and the names of Miller and Llewellen are painted in large letters upon the very crest of a rock several hundred feet high. The side upon which the _names_ are written is as perpendicular as though it had been hewed down by human design; and it is also very steep on the other side, where the parties must have climbed up and then leaned over in the swimming space to write. It must have required great labor to get there; and nothing but a burning, ambitious desire to be where man had never been,--and where so few could go,--could have led these men to climb so far in the air and register their names upon the very margin of the death-register; for if, in climbing, the foot or hand hold had given way, the body would have been precipitated to the level without hope.