IN THE FAR WEST. 293 



under the notice of our experienced guide. The only way 

 in which he could account for it was that they were pressed 

 so closely by the hounds, which were famous for their fleet- 

 ness, that their wits were scattered, and they were therefore 

 unable to employ their usual stratagems. They were, be- 

 sides, rather young, so that their inexperience, as much as 

 any other circumstance, was the means of leading them to 

 death. One fact in connexion with the running of the two 

 species of deer common in Western Oregon and Washing- 

 ton Territory is, that the black-tail heads for the hills and 

 ravines the moment it is started, and makes for the water 

 only when all other stratagems have failed ; while the white- 

 tail prefers to run on the lowlands and in the forest, and resorts 

 to a brook or river as soon as it can get the opportunity. 

 Hunters avail themselves of these characteristics, and act 

 accordingly ; and so quick are they in detecting which species is 

 started that the pack will not be in motion perhaps five minutes 

 ere they hie either to the hills or the stream. The white-tailed 

 deer also runs in a more direct line than its congener, as if it 

 would outstrip the dogs by its fleetness, but the other doubles 

 like a hare, and chooses the most rocky and difficult ground, as 

 if it knew that the scent would be lost more readily in such 

 places, and that its means of escape would therefore be better. 

 The former has also the greater speed, but lacks the endurance 

 of the blacktail, which is a splendid type of cervidean strength 

 and power, and, in my opinion, one of the best of its family 

 for giving the dogs a run that will test their pace and staying 

 power. 



Having cleansed the last animals, we suspended them from 

 trees and left that section, as we presumed that the dogs had 

 scared away all the deer iu the immediate vicinity. We had 

 not proceeded half a mile, however, before a fine buck leaped 

 out of a glade in front of us, but the guide brought him down 

 before he had gone thirty paces. A little further and another 

 full-grown stag bounded from his fuliaceous retreat and dashed 

 away with the hounds in full cry behind him. 



" No use running after him," said the guide; "he'll go for 

 the hills, so we had better wait here until the dogs lose him, 

 and then go for another/' 



