66 DEER-BLEAT. 



the ground occupying the space between the mountains is a level, 

 smooth surface, and exhibits no evidence of upheaval or distortion, may- 

 it not with propriety be inferred that the deposition here is of an origin 

 subsequent to that of the upheaval of the mountains ? 



July 15. — We were in motion at 2 o'clock this morning; and taking 

 a northeast course towards the base of the mountain chain, passed 

 through mezquite groves, intersected with several brooks of pure water 

 flowing into the south branch of Cache creek, upon one of which we are 

 encamped. 



We find the soil good at all places near the mountains, and the 

 country well wooded and watered. The grass, consisting of several 

 varieties of the grama, is of a superior quality, and grows luxuriantly. 

 The climate is salubrious ; and the almost constant cool and bracing 

 breezes of the summer months, with the entire absence of anything like 

 marshes or stagnant water, remove all sources of noxious malaria, with 

 its attendant evils of autumnal fevers. 



I was so fortunate as to kill a very large and fat buck to-day, which 

 adds much relish to the good cheer of our evening meal. Three others 

 having been brought in by the hunters, our larder is at present well 

 stocked with meat. Indeed, there has been but a small portion of the 

 time since we have been out, that our excellent hunters have not sup- 

 plied the entire command with an abundance of fresh meat. Although 

 we have beef-cattle in the train, we have as yet had no occasion to 

 make use of one of them. 



One of the Delawares has seen fresh buffalo-tracks to-day going to 

 the southeast, and we still cherish the hope that we may yet encounter 

 them. 



John Bushman, our interpreter, was much surprised to-day, on calling 

 a doe towards him with a deer-bleat, to see a small fawn following after 

 its mother ; but imagine his astonishment, when immediately behind 

 the fawn came a huge panther bounding rapidly towards him, and in a 

 twinkling he fastened his claws in the vitals of his victim. He, however, 

 in this instance, caught a tartar, and paid dearly for his temerity, as 

 John, with a spirit of indignation that would have done credit to the 

 better feelings of any man, raised his rifle, and, instead of killing the 

 deer, which was entirely at his mercy, planted the contents in the side 

 of the panther. 



The method of hunting deer by the use of the bleat is practised 

 extensively by the Delawares in this country, and with great success. 



They make the bleat somewhat similar to the first joint of a clarionet, 

 with a brass reed scraped very thin, and applied in the same manner as 



