himself. He gallantly makes the attempt, but springs forward with too
much energy, and over he topples, with the bicycle cavorting around on
top of him. This satisfies his aboriginal curiosity, and he smiles and
shakes his head when I offer to swap the bicycle for his mustang. The
road is heavy with sand all along by Winnemucca, and but little riding
is to be done. The river runs through green meadows of rich bottom-land
hereabouts; but the meadows soon disappear as I travel eastward. Twenty
miles east of Winnemucca the river arid railroad pass through the ca¤on
in a low range of mountains, while my route lies over the summit. It is
a steep trundle up the fountains, but from the summit a broad view of
the surrounding country is obtained. The Humboldt River is not a beautiful
stream, and for the greater part of its length it meanders through
alternate stretches of dreary sage-brush plain and low sand-hills, at
long intervals passing through a ca¤on in some barren mountain chain.
But "distance lends enchantment to the view," and from the summit of
the mountain pass even the Humboldt looks beautiful. The sun shines on
its waters, giving it a sheen, and for many a mile its glistening surface
can be seen - winding its serpentine course through the broad, gray-looking
sage and grease-wood plains, while at occasional intervals narrow patches
of green, in striking contrast to the surrounding gray, show where the
hardy mountain grasses venturously endeavor to invade the domains of the
autocratic sagebrush. What is that queer-looking little reptile, half
lizard, half frog, that scuttles about among the rocks. It is different
from anything I have yet seen. Around the back of its neck and along its
sides, and, in a less prominent degree, all over its yellowishgray body,
are small, horn-like protuberances that give the little fellow a very
peculiar appearance. Ah, I know who he is. I have heard of him, and have
seen his picture in books. I am happy to make his acquaintance. He is
"Prickey," the famed horned toad of Nevada. On this mountain spur, between
the Golconda miningcamp and Iron Point, is the only place I have seen