MOUNTAIN SPRINGS. 67 



upon the clarionet, and so regulate and adjust the instrument by exper- 

 iment as to imitate almost precisely the cry of the young fawn. They 

 use them during the months of June and July, before the does have 

 weaned their young. Riding along near a copse of trees or brush 

 where they suppose the deer to be lying, they sound their bleats, which 

 can be heard for half a mile; and as the doe never remains near her 

 fawn any longer than is necessary to give it food, (when she retires to 

 an adjoining thicket and makes her bed alone,) she immediately takes 

 alarm at what she conceives to be a cry of distress from her helpless 

 offspring, and, in the intensity of her maternal affection, she rushes at 

 full speed in the direction of the cry, and frequently comes within a few 

 yards of the hunter who stands ready to give her a death-wound. This 

 is an unsportsman-like way of hunting deer, and only admissible when 

 provisions are scarce 



The bear, the wolf, and panther often come at the call of the bleat, 

 supposing they are to feast upon the tender flesh of the fawn. It might 

 be supposed that in a country where there are so many carnivorous 

 animals, the greater portion of the deer would be killed by them while 

 young ; but nature, in the wisdom of its arrangements, has provided the 

 helpless little quadruped with a means of security against their attacks, 

 which is truly wonderful. It is a well-known fact among hunters that 

 the deer deposite a much stronger scent upon their tracks than any other 

 animal, inasmuch as a dog can without difficulty follow them long after 

 they have passed at a distance of many yards from the track. Notwith- 

 standing this, the fawns, until they are sufficiently grown to be able to 

 make good running, give out no scent whatever upon their tracks, and 

 a dog of the best nose cannot follow them except by sight. I have often 

 seen the experiment made, and am perfectly satisfied that such is the 

 case; this, therefore, must in a great measure protect them from the 

 attacks of the wild animals of the country. 



July 16. — Our reveille sounded at two, and we were en route at 3 

 o'clock this morning. Continuing a northeast course for four miles, we 

 crossed a fine stream of clear water issuing from the mountains, and 

 running into the south branch of Cache creek; after travelling three 

 miles further, we passed another, and made our encampment upon a 

 third : all of these were of about equal magnitude, and similar in 

 character. They take their rise from springs among the granite mount- 

 ains, and flow over the detritus and sand at the base ; are about twenty 

 feet wide, with the water clear and rapid. The banks are abrupt, about 

 ten feet high, and composed of white clay and sandstone. Upon each 

 of these branches there are large bodies of post-oak timber, much of 



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