268 RAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



the limp gentleman, and got knocked down and jumped 

 on for about five minutes by that worthy. 



1 got back to ^Frisco all right,, having enjoyed my trip 

 immensely. 



There are far better places than California for sport, 

 and especially large game, but after all it is not exactly 

 the amount of game you get, you soon get tired of that. 

 A day or two of buffalo shooting is quite enough for 

 most men ; a herd of Chillingham bulls would be in- 

 finitely more dangerous characters, while as for deer- 

 stalking, why I^d sooner have two days in a Scotch 

 forest than a whole month of buffalo hunting. No, it^s 

 the camp out, the glorious climate, the sense of freedom 

 and health. Where is there anything like an American 

 forest in autumn ? Just look at those tints and grada- 

 tions of colour, from the brightest and liveliest gold to 

 the deepest shades of scarlet. Yes, scarlet ! IVe seen 

 some birches in Dorset that bestrew themselves round 

 with a carpet of almost blood-red colour, but I never 

 saw, save in America, those exquisitely lovely scarlet 

 tints. Dear old California ! I often wish I had never 

 left you. Well, I hope to see you again this summer, 

 and your hospitable population. A " stage ^^ Californian 

 is a gentleman in a red jumper shirt, and very large 

 boots, with half-a-dozen revolvers stuck all over him ; 

 a real Californian is — well — just about as good as you 

 find ^em anywhere. 



