IN THE FAR WEST. 275 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER AND THEIR VARIETIES. 



The black-tailed and Virginia deer and their varieties Range of the 

 black-tail Misapplication of names Si/e, speed, and jumping power 

 Character of its flesh Its abundance Great numbers slaughtered 

 annually Objection of pot-hunters to hounds Best kind of dogs for 

 hunting it in the forests Packs in the North-west Use of deerhounds 

 Where to find the black-tail The white-tailed deer Its haunts 

 and habits Difference between it and the black- tuil when running 

 before hounds Its intrusive character and abundance How fanners 

 keep it away from their crops Antipathy between sheep and deer- 

 Fondness for salt and sulphur springs Best weapon for hunting it 

 The spotted and white deer The former a great pet The latter 

 supposed to be a wandering spirit by the Indians Where found The 

 Virginia deer Its feeding-grounds Best time for stalking it How 

 to stalk it The dwarf deer Its haunts, habits, and numbers Diffe- 

 rent methods of hunting deer A day's hunting in the woods with 

 hounds Number captured A fortnight in the forests of Washington 

 Territory Our camp and hunting experience Extraordinary abun- 

 dance of fur, fin, and feather Incidents of sport and camp life 

 Merry times Attacked by a buck Lost in the forest Actions of a 

 man when lost How I reached camp Excursions after fin and 

 feather Homeward bound A grand hunt ball -The ball-room and th<> 

 people An original band The Terpsichoreans, and how they were put 

 through their figures Ball-room scenes and repasts A hunt dinner 

 Rambling once more A pleasant reminiscence. 



THE black-tailed deer (Cariacus columbianns : Gray) is con- 

 fined to the region lying between the Sierra Nevada and 

 Cascade Ranges and the Pacific Ocean. Its range extends 

 from Alaska and British Columbia to Mexico; hence it is 

 found in Washington Territory, Oregon, and California, and 

 large numbers frequent the dense forests of these regions. I 

 never heard of it or saw it in the interior plateaus lying 

 between the above chains and the Rocky Mountains, the so- 

 called black-tail of that vast area being the mule deer. This 

 indiscriminate application of names causes much confusion to 

 persons seeking a knowledge of the distribution of deer, unless 



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