18 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



for in the vast area lying between that chain and the Pa- 

 cific Ocean may be found nearly every species of game 

 indigenous to the North American Continent, and several 

 whose habitat is confined to that region alone. Among 

 the latter may be mentioned the grizzly and black bears, 

 the mountain sheep and goat, several species of deer, 

 besides cougars, wolves, foxes, and many smaller quadru- 

 peds. Of the entire area, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Ore- 

 gon, and Washington Territory, with their towering moun- 

 tains and extensive plains, dense forests and treeless pla- 

 teaus, are by far the best hunting-grounds, as they possess 

 all the elements of soil and climate necessary for the sus- 

 tenance of a large and varied faunal life, and their popula- 

 tion is yet so limited that it has little effect on the increase 

 of iheferce naturae. These countries can be approached in 

 variety and abundance of game only by the tangled jun- 

 gles of India, or the impenetrable woods of Africa; and as 

 they, including Utah, embrace an area of nearly six hun- 

 dred thousand square miles, or about five times that of the 

 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, it is evident 

 that they will afford a splendid field to true sportsmen for 

 many years to come. In their profusion and variety of 

 game birds and fishes they have no rivals in any quarter 

 of the globe ; hence it may be safely stated that the entire 

 region extending from California on the south and west, 

 to British America on the north and east, is without a peer 

 as a recreation-ground for those who love the ecstatic ex- 

 citement of the chase, or the quiet, meditative pleasure of 

 angling. The advantages which the Far West possesses 

 over all other places to the lovers of the rod and gun are, 

 that the expense of reaching it is comparatively small ; 

 that game is unusually abundant; that life is generally 

 safe there now from the attacks of savages, fierce ani- 

 mals, irritating insects, poisonous serpents, or deadly dis- 

 eases, by taking ordinary precaution ; that trusty and ex- 

 perienced guides are easily procured, and at a nominal 

 sum ; that an outfit complete in every detail may be ob- 

 tained in a town of any importance ; that a rapid means of 



