HUNTING THE WILD GOAT 177 



and females now and then, and only at the end of the 

 day, literally by accident, I slid down into the herd 

 that, confident in their protective coloring, were lying 

 in the little nest on the rocks over v/hich I had doubtless 

 looked many a time. 



The goats are well adapted to San Clemente, which 

 appears to be a desert at times; but the ten or fifteen 

 inches of rain in winter converts the island into a 

 garden, and the canons bloom with myriads of flowers. 

 The calochortus, the poppy, the painter's brush, and 

 the yellow violet cover the ground in places; wild oats 

 grow to an extraordinary height and tint the hills a 

 vivid green; the heteromeles or holly is brilliant in 

 reds, and many parts of the island revel in verdure on 

 some of which the wild goat feeds. In summer he 

 takes to the natural hay, the alfilaria, or to the succu- 

 lent leaves of ironwood; and if worse comes to worst, 

 he fares well on the cactus, obtaining therefrom both 

 food and drink. 



The goats have hardly any enemy but man. The 

 islands all abound in bald eagles, and doubtless a few 

 kids fall to their talons, though the bald eagle of the 

 shores is more of a scavenger. I have heard from 

 herders and riders in the range tales to the effect that 

 the eagles reduce the number of the sheep, preying 

 on the young; but a dead fish floating alongshore, 

 or on the beach, is more to the taste of these island 

 birds of freedom, and I fancy the wild goat is free 

 from nearly all the terrors except man. 



It is said that there are ten or twelve thousand wild 

 goats on Santa Catalina on the north end of the island, 

 especially old bucks with wide horns; but the hunting 

 is best in the southeast end, where the goat is at home 



