I 



ROCKY MOUNTAINS IN SEPTEMBER 279 



setting sun, and his eye distorted with alarm and wonder- 

 ment. He had been within the timber till we had passed 

 without his seeing us, and till the breeze had carried our 

 w^ind to his nostrils. Then he had rushed forth, not 

 knowing where his danger lay, and so had almost run 

 over us as he crossed the brow. At any rate he w^as in 

 covert again and out of harm's way before I could pull up 

 and pull trigger. He had given us a beautiful spectacle, 

 and laughed at us into the bargain. 



My partner (" English soldier-officer ") had, I found 

 on reaching camp, done well during the day. Where he 

 had ridden the big buck had, he said, " run up and looked 

 at him," the trophies he brought proving his words. With . 

 his adventures and successes I refrain from meddling, re- 

 producing my own experience only so far as to illustrate 

 the pleasant life of a sportsman in these Rocky wilds. 



I have nearly done. We worked back to Hunters' 

 Lake, spent a day or two in fishing there, and devoted 

 another to a trip to the smaller water of Great-Trout 

 Lake. It was midday, and a hot midday, w^hen we reached 

 this latter ; and the big fish merely smiled, swimming 

 lazily up to the fly, turning over as if to take, then idly 

 passing on, as for instance one turns away from food in 

 the Red Sea heat. But, riding back, we put covey after 

 covey of the blue grouse into the trees, sent a man round 

 to drive them over our heads, and soon had every saddle 

 festooned with the gamey birds. 



By the way, I should have described the methods of 

 the professional fisherman — -a poacher according to the 

 game law^s of the State, but a fully recognised factor as 

 regards the food supply of the towns. Probably he is a 

 trapper, whose main occupation is at a standstill during 

 the summer months. He finds for himself a partner 

 (they always hunt in couples), and he, or they, fit out 

 themselves with two donkeys (" jacks " in Western phraseo- 

 logy), and a few flies, casts, and lines. These, with their 

 blankets and a few^ dollars' worth of stores, constitute their 

 whole necessary outfit. A willow wand stands in lieu of 

 a " pole," the term by which every fishing-rod, however 

 scientifically built, is known in America. And the two 



