In Old Mexico 



141 



leisurely up the side of the canyon. Towards 

 the middle of the day the sun was well-nigh un- 

 bearable, its rays beating almost directly down 

 upon us with not a breath of air to temper the 

 fierce heat — the almost perpendicular walls of 

 the " hole " rendering conditions almost those 

 of an oven. We spent two days in hunting 

 the canyon, descending for a distance of fif- 

 teen miles, examining every nook and crook 

 for signs of lion and javilin; but not a single 

 trace of either did we find, although there 

 were plentiful signs of deer and quite a few 

 fresh signs of turkey. After trying for a 

 whole day to find a trail out of the " hole " 

 from the neighborhood to which we had de- 

 scended, without success, we decided to re- 

 trace the trail back to our point of entry — 

 thoroughly disgusted with the result of the 

 incursion. While hunting around the rim in 

 our exodus to the outside world again, we ac- 

 cidentally came upon a tent, occupied by a soli- 

 tary individual, eccentric and peculiar. His 

 little tent was pitched in the centre of a seven- 

 foot stake-and-rider fence; and as we ap- 

 proached, the occupant, an old man, greeted 



