were lacking in the original form, but in all other respects, even as to type, binding and illustrations, a duplicate of the old. In spite of the often revolting descriptions of wholesale carnage among the wild animals so abundant in our mountains in early times, Mr. Hittell has succeeded in giving us in Adams a picture of a simple, sincere, lovable character, whose thirst for battle could not always prevent his feeling moved at the spectacle of a mother bear or panther playing with her young. His emotion at this "interesting and beautiful sight," however, never appeared to be strong enough to lead him to spare the happy family, for his observations and cheerful moralizings inevitably ended in the killing of the mother and the capture, slaughter, or maiming of her young. The most interesting portions of the book are the accounts of the taming and training of the grizzly bears, Lady Washington and Ben Franklin, who became so devoted to the hunter that they followed him like dogs, fought other bears for him, slept with him, and even condescended to carry packs on their shoulders. Mr. Hittell vouches for the truth of these statements, having seen Adams many times with his bears in San Francisco in 1856. Adams's wanderings extended from Washington to the Kern River, from the Sierra Nevada to the Rockies. As he almost invariably was accompanied by a camp wagon, as well as by his mules and bears, the traversing of this great area of trackless wilderness and snowy mountain chains might alone be considered worthy of a volume; but Adams evidently regards it as being all in the day's work. He was a dealer in furs as well as a trapper, hunter, and trainer of bears. The description of his caravan on a journey from Eastern Washington to Portland is both interesting and amusing. "There were difficulties in putting the caravan in motion; for of all heterogeneous compositions, it was one of the most curious. . . . There were five horses packed with buffalo robes; next four horses packed with bear skins; then two packed with deer skins; two with antelope skins; seven with dried meat for the use of the animals on the journey; one with boxes containing the young bear cubs last caught; two with boxes containing wolves, untamed; a mule with foxes and fishers in baskets; and a mule with tools, blankets, and camp luggage. . . . But the most remarkable portion of the train consisted of the animals which he drove along in a small herd; these were six bears, four wolves, four deer, four antelopes, two elks and the Indian dog." Altogether a most fascinating book and one that should be especially popular among Californians.

M. R. P.

"THE MOUNTAIN TRAIL AND ITS MEssage."

This is the title of a little book by the Reverend Albert W. Palmer. Its contents are of such excellent quality that one cannot help wishing there were more pages in it. The colored half-tone illustration of Gilmore Lake forms the frontispiece, and there are many others affording beautiful glimpses of Hetch Hetchy, the Tuolumne Cañon, Rogers Lake, and the Tuolumne Meadows. Mr. Palmer has depicted in a very happy manner the free and healthful life of the Sierra Nevada as it is lived by members of the Sierra Club on their annual outings into the High Sierra. Various types of interesting recreation seekers pass before the reader amid a setting of cliffs and forests, lakes and waterfalls, such as only the California mountains can provide. The reader finds himself among them around the campfire, where scientists tell the fascinating secrets of nature in simple and direct language, where music and song are free from the artifices of the theater, and where the day's fatigue is slept away on the blooming heath with no ceiling to shut out the stars. John Muir also appears in these pages as only those know him who have walked with him in the mountains. Yet amid this recital of adventures and depiction of scenes, Mr. Palmer, with gentle but sure touch, always turns to the light the moral aspect of his experiences. W. F. B. "WILD LIFE IN THE ROCKIES.”*

This title is well selected, both as regards the birds, beasts and trees discussed, and also as regards the writer's own adventures. As "State Snow Observer" of Colorado, his winter travels are records of what appear to the ordinary mountaineer to be extreme discomforts and real dangers. His indifference to the former and disregard of the latter are quite consistent with the supreme delight he feels in the beauty of the wild surroundings.

To stay out night after night in the dead of winter without blankets and without food other than raisins is certainly a supreme test of a man's love for Nature in her wildest moods. That the writer is amply repaid for such hardships is abundantly evident in his every word. Instance his intimate matter-of-fact recital of battles with storm and snow; also his loving chronicle of "The Story of a Thousand-Year Pine," and again the adventures of "Faithful Scotch."

There is a quality of lovableness as well as of poetic beauty in *The Mountain Trail and Its Message. By ALBERT W. PALMER. Pilgrim Press, Boston, 1911. The book is attractively bound in corduroy paper boards. 50 cents net. 31 pages.

*Wild Life in the Rockies. By ENOS A. MILLS. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Riverside Press, Boston and New York, 1909. 257 pages; with illustra

tions from photographs. Price $1.75 net.

his style which is shown in manifold happy turns of expression: "That all pervading presence called silence has its happy home within the forest. . . . Silence is almost as kind to mortals as is her sweet sister sleep." This charming volume is fitly dedicated to John Muir. H. M. LEC.

"TRAILS OF THE
PATHFINDERS.'
""**

There are books which appeal to the perpetual boyhood of the race; books which will be read as eagerly by graybeards as by those of the unrazored lip; books full of the eagerness for novelty and conquest, full of the adventures of men who know no obstacles and feel no fear. Such a book is Mr. Grinnell's "Trails of the Pathfinders." The author's preface tells us: "The chapters in this book appeared first as part of a series of articles under the same title contributed to Forest and Stream several years ago. . . .

"The books from which these accounts have been drawn are good reading for all Americans. They are at once history and adventure. They deal with a time when half the continent was unknown; when the West-distant and full of romance-held for the young, the brave and the hardy possibilities that were limitless.

"The legend of the kingdom of El Dorado did not pass with the passing of the Spaniards. All through the eighteenth and part of the nineteenth century it was recalled in another sense by the fur trader, and with the discovery of gold in California it was heard again by a great multitude-and almost with its old meaning.

"Besides these old books on the West, there are many others which every man should read. They treat of that same romantic period, and describe the adventures of explorers, Indian fighters, fur hunters, and fur traders. They are a part of the history of the continent."

Carlyle tells us that a poet moves us by virtue of the fact that he is so much more a man than we. The frontiersman moves us by virtue of the same fact. Where Mr. Grinnell has let his heroes speak to us directly-has quoted from the journals of the original published accounts of exploration,-the incisive strength, the delight in finesse, the irresistible patience and dauntlessness compel our admiration. Alexander Henry, Jonathan Carver, Alexander Mackenzie, Lewis and Clarke, Pike, Fremont, and the others walk through the pages, heroic in stature, though entirely alive and human. Dr. Coues comments upon the diary of Alexander

*Trails of the Pathfinders. By GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1911. Illustrated with map and views of frontier adventure. 460 pages. Price, $1.50 net.

Henry the younger: "It mirrors life in a way Mr. Samuel Pepys might envy could he compare his inimitable diary with this curious companion-piece of causerie, and perceive that he who goes over the sea may change his sky but not his mind."

The quotations from original documents, though numerous, are not too numerous, and add a quaint reality to the chronicle of a hundred years ago. Where Mr. Grinnell tells the story himself he proceeds in the downright way demanded by his subject and is thereby the more convincing. Indeed, Mr. Grinnell can hardly be thought of as telling the story; one has the feeling that it is a story that tells itself. As one turns the pages of adventure,escapes from the Indians, from wolves, from starvation; as one reads of the way in which tact and decision and sometimes a ruthless promptitude made their way across the continent, one has a feeling that the young boys at least should read the bookif only to learn their heritage of power and the cost of empire. J. C.

"MY FIRST SUMMER IN THE SIERRA."*

Every lover of the mountains and of out-door life will welcome this latest word from John Muir's pen. It bears a message of special interest to members of our Club, written as it is by our own much-beloved President, and about a region the preservation of which was the cause of the Club's foundation. The book has that inimitable literary charm which long since placed Mr. Muir among the foremost of American writers. It has been dedicated "To the Sierra Club, Faithful Defenders of the People's Playgrounds." This book was received too late for the careful and extensive review it merits. This will appear in the next issue of the BULLETIN.

*My First Summer in the Sierra. By JOHN MUIR. Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston and New York. 354 pages; illustrated. Price, $2.50.

FRIENDS.

Our Club is generally recognized as the one organization best fitted to take the lead in all matters involving the preservation of the wonderful natural scenery which California is so fortunate as to possess, and in calling the attention of the world to these wonders. It takes money to carry on this work and to direct and concentrate public opinion where it will do the greatest immediate good. Members mean money-for our work is financed almost entirely through the payment of dues. The Club has grown wonderfully in the years past, but there is room for much greater growth and need for an increased income. We want each member of the Club to take an active part in its various undertakings. You can help by getting new members. There are few public-spirited people in California who would not willingly contribute $3.00 annually ($5.00 for the first year) to help in this good work. Any of your friends who are interested to help in the following activities should be persuaded to join.

PRESERVATION OF THE SCENERY AND WONDERFUL NATURAL FEATURES OF THE SIERRA.-Concerted action is essential and a central organization to enlist and direct public sentiment is an imperative necessity.

PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION TELLING PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD ABOUT THESE WONDERS AND HOW TO REACH THEM, thus arousing interest in their welfare.

PRESERVATION OF OUR FORESTS.-The Club has always taken a vital interest in the preservation of our forests. In our BULLETIN, published semi-annually, we make a special feature of Forestry and publish reliable and up-to-date facts furnished by leading authorities so as to keep our members in touch with this important subject.

WELFARE OF OUR NATIONAL PARKS.-We are devoting every energy to further the interests of our great national wonderlands, both by securing increased appropriations from Congress and by keeping our members informed of any dangers which threaten their welfare and existence.

BUILDING OF TRAILS AND ROADS to make these parklands more accessible. The Paradise Trail, connecting Paradise Valley with Kings River Cañon, would not have been built but for the leadership and co-operation of the SIERRA CLUB. Its value to travel is worth infinitely more than its cost. Other trails are needed to out-of-the-way but attractive regions of the High Sierra.

PLANTING THE FISHLESS STREAMS AND LAKES OF THE SIERRA WITH TROUT. - The SIERRA CLUB, in co-operation with the California Fish and Game Commission, has done more in the last four years towards stocking the Kings-Kern High Sierra with golden trout and other trout than has been accomplished in the forty years preceding.

ANNUAL OUTINGS AND EXCURSIONS.-This part of the Club's work can be participated in by but comparatively few. While a subordinate part of the Club's activities, it enables us to furnish our members with a wonderful outing at minimum expense and results in the exploration and the increased accessibility of the regions visited through construction of trails and bridges and spread of information for the benefit of those who may come after.

PHOTOGRAPHS ARE EXHIBITED AND LECTURES DELIVERED. We intend to make these features more important as time goes on.

We ask you to aid us in building up the membership of the Club and thus making it a greater power for good.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS,

PER WM. E. COLBY, Secretary.