IN THE FAR WEST. 253 



and unsympathetic life, his heart was as tender as a woman's, 

 and he had a species of chivalry, which, though rude, was 

 founded on as high principles of honour as those which 

 governed the conduct of the most famous knights of old. 



Bold and daring, and ready to meet any man with deadly 

 weapons in a moment, should he give him cause therefor, yet 

 he would be the first to help him afterwards if he were worthy 

 of it. Strong in friendship, generous in character, tender and 

 true, he was a fine type of those men who formerly lived on 

 the wild frontier, but who are now passing away, owing to the 

 settling up of the country and the cessation, comparatively 

 speaking, of the fur trade in regions where no other business 

 was once known. Hunter, trapper, and Indian fighter, it 

 could be well said of him as it was of one of his prototypes : 



" And the happy, careless rover, 

 Through the wilds he wander'd over, 

 Told his deeds by glade and cover 

 All along the wild frontier. 

 Oft the squirrel, listening near, 

 When long-parted comrades greeted, 

 Heard the wondrous tales repeated ; 

 Heard that when the game was started, 

 Sped their fortunes well or not, 

 He was still the lightest-hearted, 

 And the surest rifle-shot." 



Under his guidance I wended my way to the Bitter Root 

 Mountains, and as I have cause to long remember the scene of 

 our hunt, I have entered into unusual details to show what 

 manner of men are often met with in the West. 



We took with us a small tent, a generous supply of food and 

 tobacco, a full equipment of arms, and a large mastiff to act 

 as camp guard. Each rode a hardy mustang, and we had two 

 mules which acted as pack animals. A march of twenty miles 

 brought us to the hunting-ground late in the evening, and 

 there we pitched our camp, near a rivulet, and in a dense 

 thicket of firs, pines, and larches. 



When supper was finished my companion fell to relating 

 reminiscences of his life, and so interesting were they to me 

 that it was past one o'clock before we retired to our humble 

 couch on the ground. We had been asleep half an hour per- 



