128 A Hunting Trip in Old Mexico 



the route to break the monotony, except a 

 long dry spell without vestige of water. The 

 end of the day's ride marked the end of 

 evilization also, and we put up for the night in 

 a comfortable country home, with two wives 

 and two sets of children living together, ap- 

 parently happy and contented, in true Mormon 

 fashion. 



A day of rest for the nimrod, and of prep- 

 aration on the part of the guide hired for the 

 occasion, in getting ready for the trip, was 

 rendered interesting to the former in the con- 

 trast of a climate so vastly different from the 

 blizzard of the North, fascinating yet full of 

 invigoration for the successful enterprise of 

 the hunt after peccary and mountain lion. 

 When the preparations were about completed 

 for the start, we noticed a lone horseman wind- 

 ing his way down the mountain-side towards 

 the Mormon house; with his Mexican hat and 

 typical hunting costume, he rode into the yard 

 with all the air of a high local official, and ere 

 long his mission was made fully known to us 

 by his demanding the production of the hun- 

 ter's permit to hunt in that district. His de- 



