AMONG THE ANIMALS OF THE YOSEMITE 191 



garden, and, satisfied that I meant them no ill, 

 began to feed, actually eating breakfast with 

 me, like tame, gentle sheep around a shepherd, 

 — rare company, and the most graceful in move- 

 ments and attitudes. I eagerly watched them 

 while they fed on ceanothus and wild cherry, 

 daintily culling single leaves here and there from 

 the side of the hedge, turning now and then to 

 snip a few leaves of mint from the midst of the 

 garden flowers. Grass they did not eat at all. 

 No wonder the contents of the deer's stomach 

 are eaten by the Indians. 



While exploring the upper canon of the north 

 fork of the San Joaquin, one evening, the sky 

 threatening rain, I searched for a dry bed, and 

 made choice of a big juniper that had been 

 pushed down by a snow avalanche, but was rest- 

 ing stubbornly on its knees high enough to let 

 me lie under its broad trunk. Just below my 

 shelter there was another juniper on the very 

 brink of a precipice, and, examining it, I found a 

 deer-bed beneath it, completely protected and 

 concealed by drooping branches, — a fine refuge 

 and lookout as well as resting-place. About an 

 hour before dark I heard the clear, sharp snort- 

 ing of a deer, and looking down on the brushy, 

 rocky canon bottom, discovered an anxious doe 

 that no doubt had her fawns concealed near by. 

 She bounded over the chaparral and up the far- 

 ther slope of the wall, often stopping to look 



