The  steamer  in  which  I  started  was  a  regular  tub,
smelling  so  strongty  of  grease  that  I  began  to  feel  sea-
sick the  instant  I  stepped  aboard,  and  was  soon  flat  on
my  back.  If  there  is  anything  that  makes  a  man  dis-
gusted it  is  to  be  seasick  when  every  one  else  is  in  high
spirits.  This  was  my  case ;  and  the  merry  clatter  of
dishes,  as  the  jovial  passengers  cracked  their  jokes  at
dinner,  was  exasperating  to  me,  lying  in  my  bunk  wres-
tling with  a  rebellious  stomach,  and  getting  very  much
worsted  in  the  struggle.  It  would  seem  by  the  spas-
modic contortions,  and  outlandish  somersaults  there,
that  a  party  of  devils  were  holding  high  carnival.
We  anchored  just  outside  of  Collingwood  in  the  even-
ing, and  went  ashore  in  the  small  boat.
Next  morning  I  started  on  foot  for  the  caves,  which
were  ten  miles  distant.  The  wagon  road  led  across  a
barren  stretch  of  country,  then  turned  off  to  the  right,
and  followed  the  course  of  a  turbid  stream.  Dark,
rocky  mountains,  some  of  them  covered  with  snow,  rose
ahead.  The  sky  was  overcast  with  heavy  clouds,  and
distant  thunder  could  be  heard.  Now  and  then  I
passed  a  miner's  cabin,  where  half  a  dozen  red-headed
children  would  be  seen,  flattening  their  noses  against
the  window-panes  to  view  the  passing  traveller.
"BEDSTEAD    GULLY"  83

I  stopped  a  few  minutes  at  a  place  called  the  Devil's
Boots  to  observe  the  singular  shapes  of  a  number  of
isolated,  water-worn  masses  of  limestone.  Some  ingen-
ious miner  had  utilized  part  of  a  cave  for  a  kitchen,
drilling  a  hole  through  the  roof  for  a  chimney.  The
people  for  the  most  part  were  Scotch,  and  I  often  had
considerable  difficulty  in  understanding  them.
