56 THE DEER FAMILY 



enjoyed a meal. The fish, the birds, the elk meat were 

 all delicious. After supper we sat about the camp 

 fires, smoked our pipes and heard stories of the chase. 

 The moon shone brightly for a time over a dark pine- 

 clad mountain, and when it disappeared our guide gave 

 us a few instructions as to what to do if the Indians 

 jumped us, and we went to bed. The wolves attracted 

 by our game sang to us from a distance in the woods 

 and later came quite close. A lynx sang a solo from 

 the mountain side. {Lynx ninta, he is now — since 1903; 

 the poor thing had no name then.) The fire burned low, 

 and at last, tired out, I fell asleep. In the morning we 

 were up early and admired the charming view. The 

 lovely, placid lake reflected the high mountains which 

 surrounded it. A flock of wild fowl were swimming 

 about, not far from shore. After a hasty breakfast we 

 again went into the woods, but killed only a deer and 

 saw no more of the elk. Our vacation was for three 

 days and we were obliged to return to work. 



I once had a splendid opportunity to observe a large 

 band of elk under the leadership of a fine antlered stag. 

 They were grazing in a mountain meadow. The stag 

 had the finest pair of antlers I ever saw on a live ani- 

 mal. I was riding with Captain Baldwin of the Fifth 

 Infantry (now General Baldwin) in the Wolf or Pan- 

 ther Mountains, Montana, and as we came to the edge 

 of the hill or low mountain the elk were just below us, 

 but too far away for a shot. Dismounting, we sat 

 down where we could observe them, without their see- 

 ing us. They were moving slowly from left to right, 

 stopping now and then, when the stag raised his splen- 

 did head and, no doubt, tested the air with his nose to 



