264 RAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



settled up for a new country, and certainly I never saw a 

 finer ; if it isn^t now, I should say that in a few years^ time 

 this foot-hill region about Santa Cruz and south of it 

 will become the finest in California. We very soon 

 found ourselves in the happy hunting fields ; Ryles, 

 however, insisted on keeping on a day more, so as to get 

 free of all loafers, and finally we came to an anchor, 

 much to my delight. We rigged up our tent and shanty 

 in quite a comfortable manner for a two month^s stay, 

 and I never spent such a two months in my life. We 

 shot deer, which Eyles skinned and sold, or traded the 

 carcases to farmers, &c. The skins he disposed of at 

 San Francisco in a lump. The deer shooting was 

 superb ; I could go out any evening and get a couple, 

 and Ryles must have killed an immense number, although 

 he was not a good shot at all ; but then his dog was 

 a perfect caution at deer. He would follow a wounded 

 deer till he either found it, or gave it up as a bad 

 job. We knew directly the dog came back, — and he'd be 

 gone for hours sometimes, — whether he had pulled it down 

 or not ; if he had, he would wag his tail and lie down as 

 happy as possible and get his grub like a Christian, but 

 if he had lost the quarry, he^d come creeping and 

 crawling in as though he was ashamed of himself. Next 

 morning, or any time, all we had to do was to follow the 

 dog who -would bring us straight to where the deer was 

 lying dead. One day T had quite a fright ; I had 

 followed the dog for more than a mile over some 

 frightful rough country, when all of a sudden he com- 

 menced growling and his bristles went up like a porcu- 

 pine^s back ; he got behind me, still snarling away, and 

 I felt like going back. However, I cocked my gun and 

 clambered up sideways so as to make an ascent and look 



