eeks, in a famishing condition, alone,
in an unfrequented wilderness, formed no part of my contemplation. I
had dwelt too long amid the mountains not to know that such a thought,
had it occurred, would have been instantly rejected as improbable;
nevertheless, "man proposes and God disposes," a truism which found a
new and ample illustration in my wanderings through the Upper
Yellowstone region.

On the day that I found myself separated from the company, and for
several days previous, our course had been impeded by the dense growth
of the pine forest, and occasional large tracts of fallen timber,
frequently rendering our progress almost impossible. Whenever we came
to one of these immense windfalls, each man engaged in the pursuit of
a passage through it, and it was while thus employed, and with the
idea that I had found one, that I strayed out of sight and hearing of
my comrades. We had a toilsome day. It was quite late in the
afternoon. As separations like this had frequently occurred, it gave
me no alarm, and I rode on, fully confident of soon rejoining the
company, or of finding their camp. I came up with the pack-horse,
which Mr. Langford afterwards recovered, and tried to drive him along,
but failing to do so, and my eyesight being defective, I spurred
forward, intending to return with assistance from the party. This
incident tended to accelerate my speed. I rode on in the direction
which I supposed had been taken, until darkness overtook me in the
dense forest. This was disagreeable enough, but caused me no alarm. I
had no doubt of being with the party at breakfast the next morning. I
selected a spot for comfortable repose, picketed my horse, built a
fire, and went to sleep.

The next morning I rose at early dawn, saddled and mounted my horse,
and took my course in the supposed direction of the camp. Our ride of
the previous day had been up a peninsula jutting into the lake, for
the shore of which I started, with the expectation of finding my
friends camped on the beach. The forest was quite dark, and the trees
so thick, that it was only by a slow process I could get through them
at all. In searching for the trail I became somewhat confused. The
falling foliage of the pines had obliterated every trace of travel. I
was obliged frequently to dismount, and examine the ground for the
faintest indications. Coming to an opening, from which I could see
several vistas, I dismounted for the purpose of selecting one leadi