190 OUR NATIONAL PARKS 



ing an awkward step. Standing, lying down, 

 walking, feeding, running even for life, it is al- 

 ways invincibly graceful, and adds beauty and 

 animation to every landscape, — a charming ani- 

 mal, and a great credit to nature. 



I never see one of the common blacktail deer, 

 the only species in the Park, without fresh ad- 

 miration ; and since I never carry a gun I see 

 them well : lying beneath a juniper or dwarf 

 pine, among the brown needles on the brink of 

 some cliff or the end of a ridge commanding a 

 wide outlook ; feeding in sunny openings among 

 chaparral, daintily selecting aromatic leaves and 

 twigs ; leading their fawns out of my way, or 

 making them lie down and hide ; bounding past 

 through the forest, or curiously advancing and 

 retreating again and again. 



One morning when I was eating breakfast 

 in a little garden spot on the Kaweah, hedged 

 around with chaparral, I noticed a deer's head 

 thrust through the bushes, the big beautiful 

 eyes gazing at me. I kept still, and the deer 

 ventured forward a step, then snorted and with- 

 drew. In a few minutes she returned, and 

 came into the open garden, stepping with in- 

 finite grace, followed by two others. After 

 showing themselves for a moment, they bounded 

 over the hedge with sharp, timid snorts and 

 vanished. But curiosity brought them back 

 with still another, and all four came into my 



