Oct. 4 1838.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



203 



very thick and the trail discernible only to one familiar 

 w,th the route, and as the writer, who had not attempted 

 anything of the sort for at lea3t two years, was decidedly 

 soft, wuli B. in a similar condition, our ascent was slow 

 and laborious, so that the sun was just sinking out of 

 sight when, covered with perspiration and puffing like a 

 brace of purpoises, we attained the highest point of the 

 trail, from which we could look down upon the little 

 alder grove where we intended to make camp. The" 

 descent was a matter of very few moments; in some 

 places the horses set their feet and slid eight or ten yards 

 at a time, while we eased ourselves down by grabbing 

 the bushes as they passed us: and it was still quite light 

 when we crossed the stream and entered the grove. We 

 expected that night to sit down to a supper of bacon, 

 potatoes and bread, having shot nothing on the way out 

 bat a jack rabbit, and these are seldom'fit to eat in sum- 

 mer; but while Rippey and the scribe removed the packs, 

 staked the horses and started a fire, B. jointed his single- 

 banded split-bamboo and began casting in a small pool 

 only a few yards from camp. Four tine fish rewarded 

 bis efforts before the bacon began to brown, and althougb 

 they seemed but a mouthful to three hungry men, they 

 ma le a very acceptable relish and a foretaste of what was 

 to follow. 



Making camp in the mountains of California at this 

 season, when there is no rain and but little dew, is 

 usually a matter of the simplest character; no shelter is 

 necessary, aud after we had gathered a little dry wood 

 tor fuel, and clipped three or four bushels of the small 

 wiry twigs of the scruboak that makes a bed almost 

 equal to a spring inaitress, we sat down by the fire to 

 sm >ke and lay our plans for the morrow. We were not 

 particularly tired, as the day's travel had been light, but 

 at 10 o'cl ick we turned in with the determination to 

 make a drive for deer at daylight in the morning. 



Auout four o'clock Rippey gave a yell that brought us 

 out of the blankets in a jiffy under the impression that 

 the camp was being attached by hostile Indians. Our 

 frugal breakfast was soon dispatched, and before sun- 

 rise we were climbing, Indian rile, the side of a ravine 

 that iuter-ected the Pieta Cifion nearly at right angles. 

 Ciose to our heel-, followed the two dog-*, of whom it is 

 perhaps time some mention were made, as they are 

 rather important auxiliaries. Tell, a very handsome red 

 setter, was owned by B., and had been brought up more 

 for his health than anything else, for although a fair 

 bird d >g, he proved to be perfectly u-eless as a deer ex 

 terminator, except when the deer was well cooked. 



Grip, the other dog, owned, raised and tiained by Rip- 

 pey, was certainly one of the mo>t remarkable dogs I had 

 ever known, and deserves a more extended notice. He 

 was a large black and tan hound with a cast of melan- 

 choly u.ion his countenance that would have excited the 

 envy of Don Quixote himself. During the seven days we 

 were om, after hunting on the high ridges a mile or more 

 from water, where the low scrub furnished but little pro- 

 tection to the parched ground, I never saw him weaken 

 or require a reprimand, although upon one intensely hot 

 day we bunte i from 5 in the morning until 4 in the 

 afternoon, Huucing was with him a strictly business 

 proposition, and when out he %vasted none of his energy 

 in aoiy other direction. We usually separated and k pt 

 along parallel ridges 200 or 300yds. apart, with the do-' 

 working in the gulch between us, where the deer were 

 generally lyiag, winch gave us better opportunities for a 

 shut than any other method. From these elevated stand- 

 points the dog w is selloax out o : sight of all of us for any 

 great lengt i of ti nt. Fresh tracks could be seen every- 

 waere, Oat ha t x>k no notice of them, unless it was quite 

 certain tue deer wa- clo >e by, and after taking a trail he 

 naver gi ve tongue until the deer was routed out of his 

 bed. He never seemed to lose knowledge of the position 

 of his m ister, and would relinquish the chase and return, 

 whenever the deer succeeded m getting hopelessly beyond 

 range uu wounded. Sometimes when pressed by thirst 

 beyoid ou.luian.ee, he would go to the nearest place for 

 Water only to return immediately; and at others, when 

 the distance wa-i too great, he would come to one of us and 

 mutely plead for a diink from our canteens, which, it is 

 hirdly uecessary to say, was never refused as long as a 

 drop rem dned. If a deer was crippled by a shot too 

 badly to run, be would lie down close by it, giving an 

 occasional howl until we arrived; but should it attetnptto 

 eac ipe, ne .-prang at once for its throat. When in camp 

 he .spent nearly the whole time, night or day, stretched 

 out at mil length upon the ground, only raising his head 

 to he fed, seldom getting up even then. One cause for 

 this, no doubt, was because the hot gravel of the hillsides 

 wore out his feet. He took no notice whatever of the 

 setter, never attempting either to play or quarrel with 

 him, and I never saw him seek a caress even from his 

 master, although when such were voluntarily given, he 

 gave faint signs of pleasure by a slight wag of his tail 

 and a lo wering of the ears. Begging your indulgence for 

 this digress. on, my only excuse being that these traits of 

 character, which all came under my own observation, 

 seemed so remarkable to me when all found in one dog 

 that I could but believe they would interest others also, 

 we will return to the hunt. 



B. was the only one of the party who had never yet 

 killed a deer, and being of course exceedingly anxious to 

 do so, much speculation was indulged in as to 'his chances 

 for the buck fever. It was in the height of this discus- 

 sion and just as we were nearing the highest point of the 

 ridge about a mile from camp, that old Grip, who had 

 quietly slipped away at some stage of the proceedings, 

 opened up in full cry in the gulch to our left, and a few 

 moments 1 iter a deer was seen sneaking along through 

 the brush on the opposite slope about 150yds. away, bio 

 cunningly was this maneuver being executed, with 

 cramped body and head close to the ground, that had we 

 been in a less advantageous position he would no dourt 

 have e-caped unnooiced as many subsequently did. Un- 

 fortunately for the writer, he carried on this occasion a 

 shotgun, but B. and Rippey unbmbered their Winchesters 

 an J b-gan pumping the lead at him with a rapidity that 

 reminded me of an infantry fusilade. Having nothing 

 else to flo I stood watching the puffs of dust that rose 

 from the ground as the bullets struck above, below and 

 behind the deer, which, upon finding that he was discov- 

 ered, had thrown off ail secrecy, and with head and tail 

 up was bounding over the brush in magnificent style, 

 until he reached the top of the ridge, where the last we 

 saw of him was his white flag disappearing over the 

 further side. It was pretty certain that he had escaped 

 untouched, still it was rather a close call, and I was grati- 



fied to observe tbat B. had sent his bullets about as near 

 the game as had Rippey himself. No blood, but no buck 

 ague either, which argued well for the future. 



We crossed over to where the deer was last seen, and 

 half an hour later Grip, who bad driven him somewhere 

 off into space, returned, and alter a short rest stole off 

 again. The next raise was an old doe and one or more 

 fawns, which he bounced out of a clump of bay bushes. 

 They took down the gulch straight for the creek, followed 

 by the dog, who was, however, recalled by Rippey before 

 he got out of hearing. 



Scattered here and there all over these hills were small 

 thickets of bay, generally about 10ft. high, which we 

 discovered to be favorite resorts of the deer, especially 

 the bucks, but whether they choose them on account of 

 their superior shade or the pungent aroma of the leaves 

 we could not determine. Grip seemed to be well aware 

 of this fact and never failed to investigate every clump 

 he passed. The next two deer that were started neither 

 of us got a glimpse of, and the fifth was a doe that, like 

 the others, headed at once for the creek. It was now 

 drawing along toward noon, and the vertical suu was 

 beating down upon us with a temperature that was more 

 than torrid; the heated ground scorched our feet through 

 oui heavy shoes, and when we sat down we had to thrust 

 them into the bushes for protection. Not a breath of air 

 was stirring and not a sound could be heard, for every 

 living thing except ourselves seemed to have fled from 

 the stifl ing hea t. Rippey and I had st ripped to our shirts 

 before leaving camp, but B., who in this respect re- 

 minded me of Captain Good, in ••Allan Quartermain,*' 

 had insisted upon wearing his shooting jacket 

 and a pah- of very heavy canvas leggings. The 

 leggings were all right, as they protected his legs 

 from rattlers and that villainous white thorn that 

 scratched us unmercifully through our thin clothing, 

 but the perspiration from his well nourished bodv 

 trickled in rivulets down into his shoes and saturated his 

 jacket in the back and beneath the arms until those por- 

 tions looked as if they had been dipped in the creek. 

 Poor Tell, the pampered pet of city life, was by this time 

 a total wreck, although he had done nothing for the last 

 two hours but follow, whining at our heels and scratch 

 holes in the ground beneath the brush to lie in the mo- 

 ment we stopped. He now obstinately refused to put 

 up with what to him must have seemed inexplicable if 

 not idiotic conduct, and sneaking off into the thicket, 

 we saw him no more until we returned to camp. Old 

 Grip himself was suffering greatly, especially in his feet, 

 and we began to feel a little anxious as the prospect ot 

 another day on bacon and bread loomed up unpleasantly 

 pr minent. All this was talked over as we lay cooling 

 ourselves in a clump of bay, and we determined to beat 

 one more gulch and return to camp. Grip, who was fully 

 alive to the importance of getting meat, having eaten 

 nothing since leaving Lakeport, as his appetite had not 

 yet reached bacon, seemed to understand the conversa- 

 tion, or at least the situation, and started down the gulch 

 the moment we were in motion. We could see him oc- 

 casionally as he went nosing carefully about in the nar- 

 row opening, but it was some time before his long, 

 melancholy howl warned us that he had again sighted 

 the quarry, and we ail sprang for a knoll that overlooked 

 that portion of the gulch. 



"Make a killing now or no meat to-day,"' shouted the 

 writer, as a forked-horn broke cover and started up the 

 opposite slope about 200yds. away. Both rifles cracked 

 simultaneously, scoring a clean miss, as neither had the 

 range. B. got in the next shot and the deer stumbled and 

 fell, with the bullet through his neck; but regaining his 

 feet, he ran along the hillside until he had nearly reached 

 our own altitude, when a bullet from Rippey*s rifle struck 

 him in the back and he dropped in his tracks. Then we 

 hurrahed, threw our hats in the air, shook hands all 

 around, and indulged in other antics supposed to be in- 

 dulged in only by schoolboys and lunatics, keeping one 

 eye, however, all the time on the spot where he fell to 

 make sure that he didn't get up and "light out'' again. 

 After our enthusiasm had somewhat subsided, we started 

 to cross over, and in our eagerness to go as directly as 

 possible, got into the most infernal thicket cf chemisal 

 and whitethorn we had yet encountered We must have 

 been a qturter of an hour getting through, and when we 

 finally emerged were sorry-looking objects. Generally 

 speaking, B. rather prides himself on his distingue ap- 

 pearance, but now he se-rned to be considerably toned 

 down; his shooting jacket was still in fair contrition, but 

 the space between that and the top of his leggings was 

 a mass of rips and tears, the least of which was six 

 inches long, while his face and hands looked as if he had 

 just escaped from an encounter with a pack of enraged 

 cats, Rippey, no doubt remembering the adage that ' 'the 

 longest way round is the nearest way home,"' had taken 

 a more circuitous route and was there in half the time, 

 getting the deer nearly ready for packing before we 

 arrived. The deer was still alive when R, came up, but 

 unable to arise, and Grip lay quietly by, not offering to 

 molest him so long as he made no effort to escape. The old 

 veteran's face wore its usual sad expression , but I fancied 

 there was a twinkle in the deeply sunken eyes that I had 

 not befoie noticed. 



On our way to camp Grip ousted two more deer, which 

 ran within shot, but m both cases we were passing 

 through thickets from which we could not extricate 

 ourselves in time to get into position, and they passed 

 us unseen; besides, we had all the venison we wanted at 

 present, and made no special effort to intercept tliem. 

 Packing out deer in such a country as I have described, 

 with the thermometer high up in the nineties, is not con- 

 sidered a very exhilarating amusement by the initiated; 

 and although this one would not dress over 65 or 701bs,, 

 and the distance to camp was less than two miles, we 

 were all fagged out when we got there. Tell met us at 

 the grove with many demonstrations of joy, but every 

 hair on his back bristled with fright as he inspected the 

 load his master was carrying. 



After eating a light lunch and fairly stuffing the dogs, 

 B. and the writer spread a blanket in the shade, where 

 we smoked and dozed away a couple of hours, while 

 Rippey hung up and finished "dressing the deer and built 

 a little smudgy fire beneath it to drive away the blue- 

 bottles, as it did most effectually. The aspect of the 

 camp at this time was one of extreme serenity; the 

 apjarehended meat famine had been averted, the sur- 

 feited dogs had silently crept away into cool spots by the 

 water, and nothing disturbed us but the discordant notes 

 of three or four jays, which had discovered the venison 



and were screaming about it in the tree above u--, until a 

 couple of charges of No. 10 shot reminded them suddenly 

 that they had pressing business elsewhere, and we saw 

 them no more. A few house flies were the only insect 

 pests that invaded our retreat; no mosquitoes, no gnats, 

 no fleas were there; even the yellow jackets, which in 

 the southern counties attack freshly-killed meat like 

 wolves, were absent now. Near us lav two or three 

 "Seasides" we had taken from our valises, but we found 

 that we did not care to read. The soft murmur of the 

 creek fell upon our ears in a drowsy monotone as with 

 half -closed eyes we watched the smoke of our cigars float 

 slowly upward, and the cawing of a distant crow was all 

 the sound we heard or cared to hear. It was the lotos 

 eaters' afternoon, such a one as we and thousands of our 

 brethren have dreamed of when, after a day of toil, we 

 have laid weary head on pillow and fallen asleep with 

 the din of business still ringing in our ears. Alas! that 

 it should so often prove only a dream. 



On the mountainside opposite, and at least 180yds. 

 away, stood the trunk of a dead pine about 150ft. high, 

 straight and bare as the stripped mast of some great In- 

 a u man - with notnin S' near tbat, approaches it in height. 

 Abovo it two large foxtail hawks were mailing in circles, 

 and one finally lit upon its top. B. raised lazilv up, 

 reached for his rifle and leaned against the butt of the 

 tree we were under, dropped upon one knee and fired. 

 The bullet struck the bird fair in the breast. A puff of 

 feathers like the sparks that radiate from a bursting 

 rocket flew out in every direction, and the bird fell like a 

 plummet, stone dead ere he reached the ground. It was 

 one of the finest shots I have ever seen made in the woods. 



Late in the afternoon, when the shadows from the tall 

 peaks to the west began to steal in upon us, although 

 there were still two good hours of daylight, we jointed 

 our rods for a cast among the trout. "B. took'up the 

 stream and the writer went down. The stream was evi- 

 dently one of considerable size in the spring, but was now 

 so diminished that it could be crossed drv shod on the rocks 

 at frequent intervals. The bush was verv thick, but 

 within a half mile of oamp several good pools were dis- 

 covered, out of each of which, bv the aid of a shortened 

 line and a coachman for a lure, I took from two to eight 

 trout, running from five to eight inches in leneth; and 

 returned before dark with thirtv-four fish in my basket. 

 1 found B. already in camp; he had not been quite so suc- 

 cessful; lait as we had more than enough to supply our 

 wants we were all satisfied. During our absence Rippey 

 had burned down a big bed of coals, over whim, sus- 

 pended by forked sticks, hung several f 't ribs of the det r, 

 and the appetizing smell mingled with the aroma from 

 the steaming coffee-pot arose like incense to our nostrils, 

 and assured us that a hunters' feast was at hand. More 

 than fifteen years had elapsed since the writer, then an 

 unmarried man, had sat down in the woods to a meal 

 like this; but indelibly engraved upon the tablets of his 

 memory were recollections of many a similar scene where 

 he had taken a part, in the years long ago. Since then 

 children have grown up around him, who-e heads reach 

 Ins shoulders; the gray hairs have intruded thickly 

 among the brown; and he has followed a life so different 

 that but little except those memories remains to remind 

 him of that shadowy past. 



Rippey had spent several years hunting, from the Mexi- 

 can line to Puget Sound, and had an extensive fund of 

 forest lore and anecdote; and as B. and the writer also 

 had some reminiscences of their own, it was nearly mid- 

 night when we sought the blankets. In common with 

 several other hunters I have met, Rippey asserted that the 

 ibex was found in this country and declared he had seen 

 one killed m the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. Its 

 scimeter-shaped horns, two feet in lengih ;nd bending 

 backward, cotdd, he believed, have belonged to no other 

 animal. 



The next day being Sunday we had thought to spend 

 the entire day in camp reading and mending our shock- 

 ingly dilapidated clothing, but the gaunt condition of our 

 horses made a change for their sake advisable; and we 

 concluded to move anout three miles down the Tieta to 

 its junction with another somewhat larger stream, with 

 the hope of finding better feed. We did not hurry mat- 

 ters, however, the late hours of the preceding night 

 caused a tardy awakening, which was followed bv a 

 leisurely breakfast; and it was 10 o'clock before the 

 horses were packed for the start. There was a faint trail 

 down the canon, but it was so thickly overgrown that 

 Rippey who took the lead was obliged to make constant 

 use of his heavy sheath knife to clear away the overhang- 

 ing branches. 



Arriving at the forks we unpacked for a couple of 

 hours and began the search for grass, but with very poor 

 success. The few places where good feed had grown 

 that season were already cropped close, and only a little 

 water giass remained. We were also surprised at the few 

 trout to be seen in the larger stream— a mystery which 

 was explained a day or two later— and after enjoying a 

 bath in one of its deep sandy pools, we concluded to push 

 on two miles further up the mountains to High Vallev. 

 where there was a farm with nearly one hundred acres 

 of cultivated land at an altitude' of about 8,000 feet. 

 The mountain was steep and the dav verv warm; but we 

 were over the summit before sunset, andfollowing down 

 a ravine came to a little glade with plentv of good grass 

 for the horses, sufficient water for our purpo.-e, and a 

 grove of scrub oak about a mile from the ranch; and 

 here we made our camp during the remainder of out- 

 stay in the mountains. We were now in a region cele- 

 brated for its tall peaks and big bucks, those great fel- 

 lows with the rocking-chair heads we had been so 

 anxious to see once more. All B. asked was a "fail- 

 show" at one of them anywhere within one hundred 

 yards, and he would attend to the rest. 



We had a fire kindled while the stars were yet shining 

 the next morning; and by sunrise were up with dog and 

 guns nearly to the top of a peak just west of om- camp. 

 The view from this point was magnificent. Eight or ten 

 miles to the east lay Clear Lake with the towns of Lake- 

 port and Kelseyville in view, To the south, about twice 

 as far away, an immense fog bank that had drifted in 

 from San Francisco Bay flooded the whole country like 

 a sea; its crest, from which some of the higher peaks 

 emerged like islands, and its northern boundary were as 

 clearly defined as those of a tidal wave. In the west 

 far below us and many miles away, lay the town of Hop- 

 land, in a beautiful valley on the Russian River, cele- 

 brated for the superior quality of its hops. From this 

 direction, during this and the succeeding days of our 



