152 Deer and Antelope of North America 



kind, and it was a great advantage to get on the 

 ground early. This hunting was not carried on 

 amid the glorious mountain scenery which marks 

 the home of the wapiti in the Rockies ; but the 

 surroundings had a charm of their own. All 

 really wild scenery is attractive. The true 

 hunter, the true lover of the wilderness, loves all 

 parts of the wilderness, just as the true lover of 

 nature loves all seasons. There is no season of 

 the year when the country is not more attractive 

 than the city ; and there is no portion of the wil- 

 derness, where game is found, in which it is not a 

 keen pleasure to hunt. Perhaps no other kind of 

 country quite equals that where snow lies on the 

 lofty mountain peaks, where there are many open 

 glades in the pine forests, and clear mountain 

 lakes, and rushing trout-filled torrents. But the 

 fantastic desolation of the Bad Lands, and the end- 

 less sweep of the brown prairies, alike have their 

 fascination for the true lover of nature and lover 

 of the wilderness who goes through them on foot 

 or on horseback. As for the broken hill-country 

 in which I followed the wapiti and the mule-deer 

 along the Little Missouri, it would be strange 

 indeed if any one found it otherwise than attrac- 

 tive in the bright, sharp, fall weather. Long, 

 grassy valleys wound among the boldly shaped 

 hills. The basins were filled with wind-beaten 

 trees and brush which generally also ran along- 



