130 ON THE FRONTIER. 



heavy timber, and capped and crowned with snow the 

 Sierra Verde. Behind us the principal valley spread 

 into a park-like country, joined by many small valleys 

 from the south and west, and then veered round to the 

 north, and continued with varying width to the base of 

 the mountains. 



There being no inducement to our stock to stray 

 grass, shelter, and water abounding round camp they 

 were turned loose to rest and fatten ; but each night two 

 or three were tied to the hitching-bar, to provide for un- 

 foreseen necessity, and because their companions, always 

 remaining near them, were less likely to be attacked by 

 wolves or pumas than if they had spent the night in some 

 neighbouring ravine, to which the bunch-grass might have 

 tempted them. 



Our early explorations in Wet-mountain Valley in- 

 cidentally assured us of two very gratifying facts. We 

 had the whole valley to ourselves, and it was full of game 

 fur, feather, and fin the streams being full of trout. The 

 game consisted principally of several kinds of deer. In 

 the low valleys and the timber bordering the creeks were 

 " white-tails," so called because their tails, which, for deer, 

 are very long fifteen inches are quite white on the under 

 side, and they have a way of raising and flourishing them 

 as they gallop away which is very noticeable. These deer 

 have very long legs, standing high for their weight, which 

 averages for bucks in good condition eighty pounds net, 

 and for does in equal condition sixty ; and are essentially 

 a creek or valley deer, not frequenting the mountain slopes. 

 Nor do they congregate together in large herds. We often 



