90 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



plentiful in all the mountainous regions of the 

 Western Territories. They were very numerous 

 formerly in that portion of Colorado with which 

 I am best acquainted, namely, Estes Park and the 

 mountains and valleys surrounding it ; but now 

 that the Park is settled up their visits are com- 

 paratively rare. The flat country used to be full 

 of them in autumn, they would run among the 

 cattle, and apparently take little notice of them ; 

 but chasing them with hounds has made them 

 very shy, and now they do not often come down 

 except in winter, when deep snow upon the range 

 compels them to seek pasturage on the lower 

 grounds. Still, there are even now plenty of 

 them in the neighbourhood, and wapiti can 

 always be found with a little trouble at any 

 season of the year. 



Thirty years ago Estes Park was a hunter's 

 paradise. Not only were all the wild beasts of the 

 continent plentiful, but the streams also were alive 

 with trout, as for the matter of that they are still ; 

 and we often devoted a day to fishing, by way of 

 varying our sport and obtaining a little change of 

 diet. In summer there was nothing peculiar about 

 the method of fishing ; we used artificial flies, or 

 live grasshoppers, and caught multitudes of trout, 



