4IO 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



A CO.MAN'CHE BRAVE. 

 He saw Bison in the valley in his younger days. 



and from that point is extended toward the 

 northwest. At Pattersons the trail winds 

 through a forest of oaks ; white, post, black 

 jack and Texas red oak, which become scat- 

 tered ai Winter Valley is approached. Not 

 a single evergreen of any kind can be seen 

 in the low land, but a variety of cedar, scrubby 

 and gnarled, grows on the mountain sides. 

 The leaves of the oaks were a rich, glossy 

 green, showing not the least sign that it was 

 autumn. The country is certainly one of the 

 fairest the sun ever shone upon. All one has 

 read and all that imagination could conjure 

 would be inadequate to picture this vision of 

 loveliness, of nature scarcely touched by the 

 hand of man, which spread before my aston- 

 ished eyes when once we were fairly in the 

 valley. 



The tan-colored sward swept away in a 

 succession of gentle undulations, gradually 

 merging into the blue silhouette of the moun- 



tains away in the west, and abruptly ending 

 on the north and south, in the rock-covered 

 sides of those nearby. 



Through the center of the Bison Range, 

 a clear stream traced its course with a hedge- 

 like line of trees, the yellow tops of the tall 

 cotton-woods marking its path as it disap- 

 peared among the swells. The silence was 

 profound. It was a bit of nature as wild and 

 free as though just created. 



These mountains were a source of wonder to 

 me as long as I remained, and when I knew 

 better all their varying moods, Irving's beauti- 

 ful description of the Catskills frequently 

 occurred to my mind. "When the weather is 

 fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and 

 purple, and print their bold outlines on the 

 clear evening sky ; but sometimes, when the 

 rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will 

 gather a hood of gray vapors about their sum- 

 mit, which in the last rays of the setting sun 

 will glow and light up like a crown of glory." 



A CO-MANCHE SQUAW AND PAPOOSE. 



i of band which camped at the corrals October 20th. 



