TWENTY YEARS IN THE ROCKIES. 87 



CHAPTER VII. 



A STRANGE BATTLE AND INDIAN HOBSB BACKS A bald eagle and a rattle- 

 snake in a death battle horse racing Indian ponies successful white 

 men's strategy large bet Indians lose heavily Indian riders. 



On a beautiful September morning, as I was cantering 

 along a mountain divide, drinking in the fresh air and ad- 

 miring the beauty of mountain, river and forest spread out 

 below me, the stillness was suddenly broken by the shrill 

 scream of an eagle. High in the heavens I saw him, pre- 

 paring to descend. Down,, down, he came, with the swift- 

 ness of a shooting star, until he had nearly reached the 

 earth, when he spread his powerful pinions, slackened his 

 speed, and with a sudden swoop, alighted on a great prairie 

 rattler (crotalus horridus), about five feet long. A battle, 

 such as I had never before witnessed, began. 



I rode slowly toward the combatants, getting as near as 

 I could without disturbing them, and eagerly watched the 

 progress of the fight. The bird was one of the largest of 

 bald eagles (haliaetus leucocephalus) and the snake was 

 a monster of its kind, fully three inches in diameter. The 

 eagle, with its crest thrown backward, ran up to the snake 

 and, with his wings, gave it a blow over the head which 

 completely stunned it, just as it was in the act of striking 

 at him with all its force. Quick as thought the eagle then 

 caught the snake in his talons, soared about ten feet in air, 

 gave it a furious shaking and let it fall to earth, where it 

 lay coiled in a warlike attitude, rattling and hissing. 



