tions. I asked a driver whether it was a Californian saying, and he answered, 'jest as much English as Californian, you bet your boots;' and he continuedalluding to the bagman inside—say, mister; those chaps ain't high-toned, and no specimens of Californy, you bet your life.'

The same man told me that he was the best whiskydrinker thereabouts, and that he drank nothing else, as it made him popular. Now, how whisky-drinking could add to his popularity I am unable to conceive.

On the way, we stopped at a very neat little farmhouse, at the edge of an almost circular cornfield. Nearly the whole crop had been trampled down and destroyed, and the owner informed us it had all been done by grizzly bears. These animals are very fond of sucking the ripe ears of corn, and will tread down acres in a single night. Of all beasts that walk the earth a grizzly is the most formidable, and it is a difficult matter to get even professional hunters to pursue them. The immense masses of muscle and fat over their vital organs render them exceedingly difficult to kill outright, and a wounded one is a terrible opponent. They can run as fast as a horse, and their prodigious strength enables them to crush a bull as easily as if he were a squirrel. However, they seldom attack man, unless they are wounded or have their cubs with them. They are then very dangerous and savage.

The rage for spiritualism, which is very strong in the large towns of California, had reached the wilds through which we were travelling, and we passed a small cottage, a dirty untidy-looking place, where the mother and daughter had of late taken to seeing ghosts and spirits. They had given up all work, being under the impression that mediums should be above attending to domestic duties. The consequence was that the husband and father, who considered spirits, except of a certain kind, as unnecessary to his social comfort and position, used the most forcible arguments against the spectres and their mediums, and the shanty was a continual scene of strife and wailing. The unhappy proprietor got into the coach, and informed the driver that there was another tea-party of spirits in prospect; and that he had made up his mind to leave home and never return to it. This threat, I found out, had been repeated so often, that now it was generally discredited; and when he descended at the next halting-place it was understood that the following morning would see him on his way back. Spiritualism as a religion is advancing with rapid strides in America.

One of the chief causes of its success is that it includes amongst the members of its Church everybody who in any way believes in the supernatural, and gratifies the tastes of its believers in any form most pleasing to themselves.

After crossing the wooded valley of Pitt river-or, as it is generally called, the Upper Sacramento-the road constantly ascended amidst brown hills covered with fine oaks, until, on reaching the crest, pine-forests again surrounded us and extended up the picturesque Castle Rocks, which reared their sharp peaks far off on our left. This range of granite and limestone rocks attains an elevation of about 3,000 feet, and extends along the Pitt Valley. The summit is broken into innumerable ragged forms resembling gigantic castles, with battlements and donjons, whose clearlydefined walls and angles stand out boldly against the bright blue of the California sky. The glare of the sun falling on the snowy limestone peaks is perfectly dazzling, and it is a relief to turn the eye towards the blue-grey granite cliffs and the shadows of the wooded crests below.

Sometimes the valley broadens into prairie breadths and plains covered with rank grass, surrounded by slopes clad with manzanita and cotton-wood, where the Pitt River Indians dwell and spear their salmon. Now and then a settler's hut may be seen, with a little cultivated land around it. But farming does not answer well; and though the land is light and easy to work, it is generally less easy to secure the crops.

Continually traversing woods of mountain-pines, we at length caught a glimpse of Mount Shasta ; its

rugged snowy peak, standing like a sentinel at the entrance of the Sacramento Valley. Presently we arrived at Soda Springs,' and the heat and dust of the day rendered the water more delicious than the best manufactured soda-water I ever drank. The water of these springs, in which iron and soda predominate, is highly charged with carbonic acid gas. It effervesces strongly, and is extremely pleasant to the taste. Invalids often spend weeks at the inn, as the water has wonderful curative powers-it certainly creates a most voracious appetite.

I met at the Springs two travellers who were going to ascend Mount Shasta on the following day; and as they had no objection, I gladly joined them in their expedition, and was not at all sorry to say good-bye to the lumbering old coach for a time.

CHAPTER XIII.

MOUNT SHASTA.

Game-Foliage-Barrenness-Night-Morning-Clouds-The crater-Boiling springs-View-Sunset-Red snow-Sisson's-Play of colour -Packing-The trail-Our first deer-American deer-Destruction of game out of season.

MOUNT SHASTA is the most striking feature of Northern California. Its height is about 14,500 feet above the sea-very nearly the height of Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc is broken into a succession of peaks, but Shasta is one stupendous peak, set upon a broad base that sweeps out far and wide. From the base the volcanic cone rises up in one vast stretch of snow and lava. It is very precipitous to the north and south, but east and west there are two slopes right up to the crater. It is a matter of doubt whether Shasta is dead or only sleeping. Vesuvius slept calmly for centuries, and then spread death and desolation for miles around. The base of the mountain is magnificently watered and wooded, and forms a splendid hunting-ground. The woods are full of deer and bears; and now and then a mountain-goat, an animal very like the chamois.