IP 



40 



AUDUBON 



cart, where I stood holding the mule. We reached the 

 ferry, where the boat had awaited our return, placed the 

 cart on board without touching the game; and, on landing 

 at the fort, the good mule pulled it up the steep bank 

 into the yard. We now had two Antelopes and two Deer 

 that had been killed before noon. Immediately after 

 dinner, the head of the old male was cut off, and I went 

 to work outlining it; first small, with the camera, and 

 then by squares. Bell was engaged in skinning both the 

 bodies; but I felt vexed that he had carelessly suffered 

 the Gray Wolf to be thrown into the river. I spoke to 

 him on the subject of never losing a specimen till we 

 were quite sure it would not be needed ; and I feel well 

 assured he is so honest a man and so good a worker that 

 what I said will last for all time. While looking at the 

 Deer shot this day, Harris and I thought that their tails 

 were very long, and that the animals themselves were very 

 much larger than those we have to the eastward; and we 

 all concluded to have more killed, and examine and meas- 

 ure closely, as this one may be an exception. It was un- 

 fortunate we did not speak of this an hour sooner, as two 

 Deer had been killed on this side the river by a hunter 

 belonging to the fort; but Mr. Culbertson assured me 

 that we should have enough of them in a few days. I am 

 told that the Rocky Mountain Rams lost most of their 

 young during the hard frosts of the early spring; for, like 

 those of the common sheep, the lambs are born as early 

 as the 1st of March, and hence their comparative scarcity. 

 Harris and Bell have shot a handsome White Wolf, a 

 female, from the ramparts; having both fired together, it 

 is not known which shot was the fatal one. Bell wounded 

 another in the leg, as there were several marauders about ; 

 but the rascal made off. 



ynne 19, Monday. It began raining early this morn- 

 ing; by "early," I mean fully two hours before daylight. 

 The first news I heard was from Mr. Chardon, who told 



