. Light overcoats are needed when
the sun goes down. There is scarcely a night here, through the year,
which passes without frost. To me the pure dry air of that great
height was more invigorating than any I had ever breathed, save,
possibly, that of Norway, and it is, probably, the tonic of the
atmosphere that renders even the invalid and aged able to support
long journeys in the Park without exhaustion. In all these years no
tourist has been made ill here by fatigue.

[Illustration: THE GOLDEN GATE.]

[Illustration: THE GOLDEN GATE, LOOKING OUTWARD.]

A few miles after leaving the Hot Springs, we reached the entrance to
a picturesque ravine, the tawny color of whose rocks has given it the
name of Golden Gate. This is, alike, the entrance to, and exit from,
the inner sanctuary of this land of marvels. Accordingly a solitary
boulder, detached from its companions on the cliff, seems to be
stationed at this portal like a sentinel to watch all tourists who
come and go. At all events it echoes to the voices of those who enter
almost as eager as seekers after gold; and, a week later, sees them
return, browned by the sun, invigorated by the air, and joyful in the
acquisition of incomparable memories.

Emerging from this Golden Gate, I looked about me with surprise, as
the narrow walls of the ravine gave place to a plateau surrounded
everywhere by snow-capped mountains, from which the Indians believed
one could obtain a view of Paradise. Across this area, like a
railroad traversing a prairie, stretched the driveway for our
carriages.

"Do tourists usually seem delighted with the park?" I asked our
driver.

"Invariably," he replied. "Of course I cannot understand the words of
the foreigners, but their excited exclamations show their great
enthusiasm. I like the tourists," he continued, "they are so grateful
for any little favor! One of them said to me the other day, 'Is the
water here good to drink?' 'Not always,' I replied, 'you must be
careful.' At once he pressed my hand, pulled out a flask, and said,
'I thank you!"

[Illustration: THE PLATEAU.]

While crossing the plateau we enjoyed an admirable view of the
loftiest of the mountains which form, around the Park, a rampart of
protection. Its sharply pointed summit pierces the transparent air
more than eleven thousand feet above the sea, and it is well named
Electric Peak, since it appears to be a storage battery for all of
the Rocky Mountains. Such are the mineral