ACROSS THE SIERRA MAD RES. 



281 



not proved successful. That we attributed 

 in the main to our ignorance of the habits 

 of the deer in that country; also to the fact 

 that in the higher altitudes deer are not 

 abundant, and we could not expect good 

 results when we had only a few hours of 

 the day to hunt in. 



The remaining 2 days proved by far the 

 hardest of the trio. The trail is steep, nar- 

 row, ill defined, and dangerous. Traveling 

 is necessarily slow, and there were times 

 when we wondered whether the mules 

 would hold out. When a mule lies down 

 with his pack on it is uncertain if he will 

 ever get ur> again. He can not rise with 

 his pack on, and to unpack in the places 

 where he elects to lie down is attended 

 with danger. 



here and there. In the valleys are syca- 

 more, walnut, alder and bamboo trees. 

 There, too, for the first time we saw orange 

 trees. Instead of mighty canyons and rug- 

 ged peaks, there are prettily wooded ar- 

 royos with a thick undergrowth of thorn 

 bush. Parrots scream and chatter in the 

 tree tops, and many birds of beautiful plu- 

 mage are to be seen. 



We had excellent deer hunting there, for 

 the whitetail deer is abundant. The camp 

 has been for the past 2 years so plentifully 

 supplied with venison that they almost re- 

 garded it with disgust at the time of our 

 visit. The mating season in these moun- 

 tains is at an exceptional time, commencing 

 early in February, and our hunting was at 

 the end of it. The bucks do not shed their 





INQUIRING THE WAY AT A NATIVE RANCH. 



When we reached the camp of Mr. Nel- 

 son, the engineer, after a steep descent, our 

 mules were nearly "all in," as our Ameri- 

 cans put it. We were glad to meet and 

 talk with white men, and, at their cordial 

 invitation, to take our places at their cheery, 

 well provided board. Fresh meat and vege- 

 tables seemed good to us after our long 

 subsistence on canned foods. Mr. Nelson 

 told us that the country through which we 

 had traveled is the hardest that the rail- 

 road constructors will have to face, but that 

 it presents no insuperable difficulties. 



We stayed at the camp 4 days, which 

 proved most enjoyable. The altitude is about 

 3,700 feet and the character of the country is 

 different from that through which we had 

 passed. The pine tree no longer figures in 

 the landscape, the hill tops being either bare 

 or covered with stunted oak trees, dotted 



horns until May, and the new ones are free 

 from velvet about October. A large head 

 has 4 points on each antler. Occasionally 

 one may have 5, but it would be the excep- 

 tion. 



Two days we hunted on mule back, Don 

 Rafael Becerra, one of the largest landed 

 proprietors in Northern Mexico, having ar- 

 rived, by Nelson's invitation, with his 2 

 hounds. The method is to ride along the 

 ridge of the small, thickly overgrown ar- 

 royos, and roll down large boulders. The 

 deer, startled in that manner, run up the op- 

 posite ridge, giving a good chance for a 

 shot. The hounds are only used in the case 

 of a wounded deer, which they will not cease 

 to hunt when once laid on the trail. It is 

 thus of great advantage to have dogs, for 

 without them the wounded deer will often 

 escape. 



