"Of course we could do nothing more for our beavers at present. It was
not our intention to trap any of them until they should become very
numerous, and then we could obtain annually a large number of skins.
Their tails, we knew, were very good to eat--in fact, quite a delicacy--
but we could not afford to kill one of them merely for the sake of
eating his tail; and the other parts of the beaver's flesh are by no
means palatable. Besides, we expected to find enough of game without
that, as in every part, where the ground was soft, we saw the tracks of
deer and other animals.
"By the time we had fairly furnished our house, the flesh of the elk was
beginning to run short, so that a grand hunting excursion was determined
upon. It was also to be an exploring expedition, as up to this time we
had not visited any part of the valley except that which lay immediately
around our house. Frank, Harry, and myself, were to form the party,
while Cudjo was to remain by the house, and guard the female portion of
our little community with his great spear.
"Everything being ready, we started out with our three rifles, and took
the route up the valley. As we passed along under high trees, we could
see squirrels upon all sides of us; some of them sitting on their
hind-quarters like little monkeys; some of them cracking nuts; some of
them barking like toy-dogs; while others, again, leaped about among the
branches. As we advanced upon them, they sprang up the trees, or
streaked off along the ground so swiftly that it seemed more like the
flight of a bird than the running of a four-footed animal. On reaching
a tree they would gallop up it, generally keeping on the opposite side
to that on which we were, so that they might be secure. Sometimes,
however, their curiosity would get the better of their fears, and when
they had climbed as high as the first or second forking or the branches,
they would stop there and gaze down upon us, all the while flourishing
their light bushy tails. We had excellent opportunities of getting a
shot at them, and Harry, who was not so thoughtful as his brother,
wished very much to try his skill; but I forbade this, telling him that
we could not afford to throw away our ammunition on such small game.
Indeed, this was a thought that frequently entered my mind, and made me
anxious about what we should do when our ammunition became exhausted. I
cautioned both my boys, therefore, not to spend a single shot on any
animal smaller than elk or deer, and they promised to obey me.
"When we had gone about a mile up-stream, we saw that the trees grew
thinner as we advanced, and then opened into small glades, or spaces
covered with herbage and flowers, usually called `openings.' This,
surely, was the very place to find deer--much more likely than in the
thick woods, where these animals are in more danger from the cougar and
carcajou, that occasionally drop upon them from the trees. We had not
gone far among these openings, before we saw fresh tracks. They were
more like the tracks of a goat than those of a deer, except that they
were much larger. They were nearly as large as the tracks of the elk,
but we knew they were not these.
"We advanced with great caution, keeping in the underwood as much as
possible. At length we saw that there was a large glade before us, much
larger than any we had yet passed. We could tell this by the wide clear
spaces that appeared through the trees. We stole silently forward to
the edge of this glade, and, to our great satisfaction, saw a herd of
deer feeding quietly out upon the open ground.
"`Papa, they are not deer,' said Frank, as we first came in sight of
them. `See! who ever heard of deer with such ears as those? I declare
they are as long as a mule's!'
"`Yes,' added Harry; `and who ever heard of deer with black-tails?'
"I confess I was myself puzzled for a while. The animals before us were
certainly deer, as their long slender legs and great branched antlers
testified; but they were very different from the common kind--and
different, too, from the elk. They were much larger than the red or
fallow-deer, though not unlike them in shape and colour. But that which
was strange, as my boys had at once noticed, was the peculiarity of
their ears and tails. The former were quite as long as the ears of a
mule, and reached more that half-way to the tops of their antlers.
Their tails, again, were short and bushy, of a whitish colour
underneath, but on the top and above as black as the wing of a crow.
There were also some black hairs upon their backs, and a black stripe
along the neck and shoulders, while their noses on each side were of a
pale ashy colour--all of which marks gave them a very different
appearance from the Virginian or English deer.
"I have said that I was at first puzzled; but I soon recollected having
heard of these animals, although they are but little known to
naturalists. They could be no other than the `black-tailed deer' of the
Rocky Mountains--the _cervus macrotis_ described by the naturalist Say.
This was evident, both from their size, the great length of their ears--
but more than all from the colour of their tails, from which last
circumstance their common name has been given them by the hunters and
trappers.
"We did not stop long to examine them. We were too anxious to have a
shot at them; but how were we to get near enough? There were seven of
them in the herd; but they were quite out in the middle of the glade,
and that was more than three hundred yards wide. The nearest of the
seven was beyond the range even of my long rifle. What, then, was best
to be done?
"After thinking about this for a moment, I saw that an open passage led
out of the glade through the trees on the other side. It was a wide
avenue leading into some other glade; and I knew that the deer when
startled would be most likely to make off in that direction. I
determined, therefore, to creep round to the other side, and intercept
them as they attempted to run through. Frank was to remain where we
first saw them, while Harry would go half-way along with me, and then
take his stand behind a tree. We should thus enclose the deer in a sort
of triangle, and some one of us would be sure of getting them within
range before they could escape.
"I had scarcely got to the edge of the opening when I saw that the herd
was browsing in towards Frank. They were every moment getting closer
and closer to him, and I watched eagerly for the shot. I knew he would
not fire until they were very near, as I had cautioned him not to do so,
on account of the smallness of his rifle. Presently I saw the stream of
smoke and fire issuing from the leaves; then followed the sharp crack,
and then the yelping of our dogs as they broke forward. At the same
time one of the deer was seen to spring upward and fall dead in its
tracks. The others wheeled and ran, first one way and then another, in
their confusion; until, after doubling several times, they made towards
the opening where I stood. In their flight, however, they had gone too
close to Harry, and as they were running past his stand, the tiny crack
of a rifle was heard among the bushes; and another of the black-tails
rolled over on the plain.
"It was now my turn; and I prepared myself to make the best shot I could
or be beaten by my own boys. So as they came up I let drive at them, to
my mortification missing them every one--as I thought at the moment. It
soon appeared, however, that I was mistaken in this. Castor and Pollux
swept past upon the heels of the herd; and before they had disappeared
out of the long avenue, I saw the dogs spring upon the haunches of one
that lagged behind, and drag him to the ground. I ran to their
assistance, and seizing the wounded animal by one of its antlers, soon
put an end to it with my knife. I had wounded it in the flank; and that
had enabled the mastiffs to overtake it, which they could not have done
otherwise, as its companions were at the time several hundred yards
ahead of it. We all now came together, exulting in the fine fortune we
had met with, for we had made a regular _battue_ of it. We were glad
that none of us had missed, and that we had succeeded in obtaining so
much good meat, for we were not slaughtering these beautiful creatures
out of wanton sport, but from the necessity of procuring food. Each
congratulated the others upon their good shooting, and said nothing of
his own--although it was plain that all three of us were proud of our
respective shots. To do justice, however, that of Harry was decidedly
the best. He had knocked his one over while on the run--no easy matter
with these black-tails, who do not gallop regularly as other deer, but
bound forward, lifting all their feet together, as you will sometimes
see sheep do. This mode of running is one of the peculiarities of their
species--which, perhaps, more than any other thing, distinguishes them
from the common deer.
"After carefully wiping out, and then reloading, our rifles, we rested
them against the trees, and set to work to skin our game.
"While engaged in this operation, Harry complained of thirst. Indeed,
we were all thirsty as well, for the sun was hot, and we had walked a
good distance. We could not be far from the stream, although we were
not sure of its direction; and Harry, taking the tin cup which we had
brought with us, set out to find it, promising soon to return with water
for our relief. He had only left us but a short while, when we heard
him calling back through the trees; and, thinking that some animal might
have attacked him, Frank and I seized our rifles, and ran after him. On
coming up, we were surprised to find him standing quietly on the bank of
a crystal rivulet, holding the cup=full of water in his hand.
"`Why did you bring us away?' asked Frank.
"`Taste this,' replied he; `here's a pickle!'
"`Oh, papa!' cried Frank, after applying the cup to his lips; `salt as
brine, I declare.'
"`Salt you may say,' continued his brother; `the sea itself is not so
salt--taste it, papa!'
"I did as I was desired; and, to my delight, I found that the water of
the rivulet was, what Frank had alleged, `salt as brine.' I say to my
delight, for I was greatly pleased at this discovery. The boys could
not understand this, as they, being now very thirsty, would much rather
have met with a cup of fresh, than a whole river of salt water. I soon
pointed out to them the importance of what we had found. We had
hitherto been in great need of salt--for we had not a single grain of
it--and had felt the want ever since our arrival in the valley. Only
they who cannot get salt, can understand what a terrible thing it is to
be without this homely, but necessary article.
"The flesh of our elk, which for many days past we lived upon, had
proved quite insipid for want of salt; and we had not been able to make
a soup that was in any way palatable. Now, however, we should have as
much as we desired; and I explained to my companions, that by simply
boiling this water in our kettle, we should obtain the very thing we so
much stood in need of. This, as they saw, would be great news for mamma
on our return; and the prospect of making her happy, by imparting the
information, rendered all of us impatient to get back. We did not stay
a moment by the salt stream--which was a very small rivulet of blue
water, and evidently ran from some spring that bubbled up in the valley.
Not far below us, we saw where it emptied itself into the main stream
of fresh water; and, keeping down to the latter, we quenched our thirst,
and then went back to our work.
"We made all the haste we could; and our three black-tails were soon
skinned, quartered, and hung upon the trees--so as to be out of reach of
the wolves while we should be gone. We then shouldered our rifles, and
hurried back to the house."