away across the open plains, and the little coyote halts in his
course to turn the inquisitive gaze of his pretty bright eyes upon
this new animal crossing his path. The timber wolf, not satisfied
with staring, follows, perhaps, as if enjoying company, at the same
time occasionally licking his chaps. When the sun goes down his
long-drawn bark rolls out into the clear winter sky like a song to
the evening star, rendering the blaze of the camp-fire all the more
comfortable. Under the moonlight the sharper bark of the coyote
swells a chorus from the cliffs, and the rich note of the night-storm
is accentuated by the long screech of the puma prowling on the
heights. In daylight his brother, the wild-cat, reminds one of Tabby
at home by the fireside. There is the lynx, too, among the rocks; and
on the higher planes the deer, elk, and bear have their homes. In
Green River Valley once roamed thousands of bison. The more arid
districts have the fewest large animals, and conversely the more
humid the most, though in the latter districts the fauna and flora
approach that of the eastern part of the continent, while as the
former are approached the difference grows wider and wider, till in
the southern lowlands there is no resemblance to eastern types at
all. Once the streams everywhere had thousands of happy beaver, with
their homes in the river banks, or in waters deepened by their clever
dams. Otter, too, were there. The larger rivers are not favourable
for fish on account of the vast amount of sediment, but in the
smaller, especially in the mountain streams, trout were abundant. In
Green River occurs a salmon-trout attaining a length of at least four
feet. This is also found in the Colorado proper, where another fish,
with a humpback, is to be caught. I do not know the name of this, but
imagine it the same as has in latter days been called "squaw-fish."

All over the region the rocks are seamed by mineral veins. Some of