keep a guard ahead; but in case outfits _do_ meet, one wagon has to be taken apart to let the other pass. Fierce contests sometimes arise as to who shall undo. At these places look out for the toll. There are many of these great gulches and canons in the mountains, and much of mountain-travel is done over lofty, dangerous roads. Sometimes the track winds around the mountain several times, and then runs along the crest for several miles; and to look down into the swimming space, the dark, deep passes appear like ways into the center of the earth. I have often--through curiosity--climbed above timber-line upon the side of the mountain, where all was bleak and rocky, and looked down the steep, pine-decked slopes. There are often rocks weighing many tons just hanging on the steep sides, and can be pried loose with little effort; and it is amusing to start them down the mountain-side and see them mow the pines as though they were straw, leaving a swath like a reaper, and thudding heavily in the grassy hollows below. At lonely places in some of the roads that run through dark, deep canons, there are bridges built over streams and gorges by private individuals, who live in little forts by the way and extort the most exorbitant rates for crossing over. They are always well armed, and travelers are forced to pay; for there is no way to get around, and to travel back over the steep, rocky road they can not think of. There is, however, once in a while a person who understands the mountain tricks; and when _they_ come this way there are some lively times in the narrow passes; and doubtless many a man has sent up his soul from the rifts among the rocks by these lonely mountain-bridges. All persons _en route_ for the Pacific by way of the Union Pacific should keep a sharp lookout for Echo Canon and view its grandeur, as the train winds slowly down between its towering walls.