Hunting at High Altitudes 



up, and then its calf, and joined the first cow, and 

 the second calf began to nurse. I stood and 

 watched them for fifteen minutes, and then rode 

 away, leaving them standing there quietly nourish- 

 ing their young. I never witnessed such a sight 

 before or since. 



From about the 2Oth of July to the 25th of 

 August I took great pleasure in visiting and in- 

 specting all the wonders of nature in this wonder- 

 ful land. My mental attitude was very different 

 from my first trip through the Park, in the autumn 

 of 1877. Then, when not startled by the strange- 

 ness or the beauty of these wonders, one's thoughts 

 were occupied with forebodings of the next snow- 

 storm which might seriously delay the march, or 

 else by looking for hostile Indian signs, which were 

 almost everywhere to be seen. Now the climate 

 was delightful. There was plenty of food, no 

 known dangers and the frequent encounter of 

 pleasant companions on a mission similar to my 

 own. 



After a month of delightful sojourning here I 

 determined to leave the Park and end the season 

 by a hunt for bear on Clark's Fork, to go out to 

 the plains to the south of the Yellowstone River 

 and finally to return to winter quarters in Boze- 

 man. I passed out of the Park by way of the east 



140 



