12 A BOOK-LOVER S HOLIDAYS 



in numbers since the reserve was created, partly 

 because of the stopping of hunting by men, 

 and even more because of the killing off of the 

 cougars. The high plateau is their summer 

 range; in the winter the bitter cold and driving 

 snow send them and the cattle, as well as the 

 bands of wild horses, to the lower desert coun 

 try. For some cause, perhaps the limestone 

 soil, their antlers are unusually stout and large. 

 We found the deer tame and plentiful, and as 

 we rode or walked through the forest we con 

 tinually came across them now a doe with 

 her fawn, now a party of does and fawns, or a 

 single buck, or a party of bucks. The antlers 

 were still in the velvet. Does would stand and 

 watch us go by within fifty or a hundred yards, 

 their big ears thrown forward; while the fawns 

 stayed hid near by. Sometimes we roused the 

 pretty spotted fawns, and watched them dart 

 away, the embodiments of delicate grace. One 

 buck, when a hound chased it, refused to run 

 and promptly stood at bay; another buck 

 jumped and capered, and also refused to run, 

 as we passed at but a few yards distance. One 

 of the most beautiful sights I ever saw was on 

 this trip. We were slowly riding through the 

 open pine forest when we came on a party of 

 seven bucks. Four were yearlings or two-year- 



