88 



EAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



and over again saw the pick of them beaten at all dis- 

 tances by Government clerks and tradesmen not in 

 training, and with no pretensions to running. We 

 camped at night under an enormous fir tree, the Indians 

 rigging up a tent in no time, and strewing leafy boughs 

 on the ground, and with our buffalo rugs on top, we had 

 as comfortable beds as in the Occidental in 'Frisco. 

 Camping out ! What a charm there is in the mere sound ! 

 and what a charming spot was ours ! A rill ran babbling 

 below us, brawling o'er its rocks and gravel, or gliding 

 smooth and peaceful 'twixt fringing ferns and drooping 

 hemlocks ; the fresh green grass gemmed with evening 

 dew, the hazels diamonded with spray from the morning's 

 shower, and the stately pines waving their graceful tops 

 as they wooed the evening breeze, combined to form a 

 scene most congenial to the lover of nature ; and if one 

 had not been a lover of "nature, his more mundane senses 

 would doubtless have been tickled by the delicious smell 

 that arose from the venison chops grilling on the embers. 

 '^ Now, Oliver, my lad, wire in if .you want anything, 'cos 

 I'm rather peckish," quoth the Colonel ; and I, knowing 

 his powers of suction and eating, forthwith drew my 

 hunting knife from behind me, and transferred a chop to 

 my tin-plate without a word. Unlike the immortal Pick- 

 wick, we had no tomato sauce, but hunger sauce made a 

 good substitute. But if we eat, eating was not the word 

 for those Injuns. Cracious goodness ! I never in all my 

 life, not even at a children's school feast, saw such gor- 

 mandizers. They must have eaten at least six pounds of 

 solid meat apiece, with no exaggeration. I had fears for 

 their powers of endurance during the day, but after an 

 eight hours' sleep, they woke like Modocs refreshed. 

 What with whiskey and pipes, and pipes and whiskey, we 



