d it carefully, but could not discover the impression of a single
horseshoe. Gathering a few dry branches of pine, we kindled a fire upon
the trail, when we discovered that we had been following, from the base
of the mountain, the trail of a band of elk that had crossed the line of
travel of the pack train at a point near the base of the mountain, and
in the dim twilight we had not discovered the mistake.

[Illustration: MAP OF YELLOWSTONE LAKE, AS KNOWN BETWEEN 1860 AND 1870.
FROM THE MAP OF RAYNOLDS' EXPEDITION OF 1860.]

The prospect for a night on the mountain, without blankets or supper,
seemed now very good; but we retraced our steps as rapidly as possible,
and on reaching the base of the mountain, struck out for the lake,
resolving to follow the beach, trusting that our party had made their
camp on the shore of the lake, in which case we should find them; but
if camped at any considerable distance from the shore, we should not
find them. Our ride over fallen timber and through morass for the
distance of about two miles to the shore of the lake was probably
performed more skillfully in the darkness of the night than if we had
seen the obstacles in our path, and as we rounded a point on the smooth
beach we saw at a distance of a little over a mile the welcome watch
fire of our comrades. When we arrived within hailing distance we gave a
loud halloo, and the ready response by a dozen sympathetic voices of our
companions-in-arms showed that our own anxiety had been shared by them.
Our camp to-night is on the westerly side of the most southeasterly bay
of the lake. These bays are separated by long points of land extending
far out into the lake. From our camp of two days ago some of these
points seemed to be islands. From the top of the mountain, which Doane
and I ascended to-day, I made an outline map of the north and east sides
of the lake and part of the south side; but on account of the heavy
timber on the promontories I could not make a correct outline of the
south and west shores. General Washburn and Hauser, as well as myself,
have thus far made outlines of the lake shore as best we could from
points on a level with the lake, but these have been unsatisfactory and
have lacked completeness, and Washburn and Hauser have both expressed
their satisfaction with the sketch of the lake shore I made to-day from
the top of the mountain; and Washburn has just told me that Lieutenant
Doane has suggested that, as I was the f