Okanagan 



notion that because a decent head has been 

 bagged in a certain district, game is certain to 

 be plentiful there. I was always finding, to my 

 cost, that such was not the case. 



In this particular part the numerous prospectors 

 and Indians have so entirely shot out the place that 

 not only was game shy and hard to get at, but the 

 heads were hardly worth the time and trouble 

 expended in looking for them. I spent about 

 seven months in the mountains trying to kill a 

 good sheep, but at the end of that time had to 

 admit that my chances of being successful were 

 but moderate. I killed a few decent rams, but 

 not one that measured fifteen inches round the 

 base of the horn. I also killed a good many 

 black-tailed deer, but here again the heads were 

 small. The Indians had long since found out 

 that a fine head commanded a good sum in ready 

 cash. Besides that, they sold the meat to the 

 mining camps, so it was no wonder that my efforts 

 were unavailing. I do not mean to say that I 

 did not have a good time and enjoy myself, for 

 I loved every minute spent in the woods ; the 

 freedom and lack of conventionality suited me 

 so well that I felt I could never again live in a 

 house. Most of us are more or less savages at 

 heart perhaps I am a little more so than most 

 men. 



I had a great fright one day. I had killed a 

 black-tailed buck, and poisoned the two hind- 



187 



