Still-Hunting Elk on the Mountain 307 



equally easy places in which to get lost; while if 

 the country is moderately open and level, with only 

 here and there a prominent and easily recognized 

 hill or butte, a man can safely go where he wishes, 

 hardly paying any heed to his course. But even 

 here he should know his general direction from 

 camp, so as to be able to steer for it with a compass 

 if a fog comes up. And if he leaves his horse hid- 

 den in a gully or pocket while he goes off to hunt 

 on foot, he must recollect to keep the place well in 

 his mind ; on one occasion when I feared that some- 

 body might meddle with my horse, I hid him so suc- 

 cessfully that I spent the better part of a day in 

 finding him. 



Keeping in mind the above given rules, when 

 I left camp the morning after the breaking up of 

 the band of cows and calves, I hunted up-stream, 

 and across and through the wooded spurs dividing 

 the little brooks that formed its head waters. No 

 game was encountered, except some blue grouse, 

 which I saw when near camp on my return, and 

 shot for the pot. These blue grouse are the largest 

 species found in America, except the sage fowl. 

 They are exclusively birds of the deep mountain 

 forests, and in their manners remind one of the 

 spruce grouse of the Northeastern woods, being al- 

 most equally tame. When alarmed, they fly at once 

 into a tree, and several can often be shot before 

 the remainder take fright and are off. On this trip 

 we killed a good many, shooting off their heads 

 with our rifles. They formed a most welcome ad- 



