242 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
the Sacramento valley, not far from the city of San 
Francisco, but it is now an animal of the past, al¬ 
though the town is hardly forty years old. Southern 
California affords every facility for the hunter, 
owing to the mildness of its climate, which enables 
him to shoot throughout all seasons, therefore the 
game has no rest. The wapiti is departed towards 
the north, where it seeks the shelter of the unin¬ 
habited wilderness, far away from the dwellings or 
pursuits of man. 
Many persons, in their descriptions of game, 
forget the great distances that animals will travel 
when once disturbed. Accounts have been given 
to me by persons well accustomed to wild sports, 
who, having had the good fortune to be the first 
upon fresh ground, have seen an enormous amount 
of game. They have described this as impossible 
to destroy; “no matter how many gunners may 
start from England, the game would last for five or 
six years.” These enthusiastic persons forget that 
although the game will not be actually shot, it will 
be driven away, which is almost as bad. 
A week’s shooting in a mountainous country, 
where the echoes of the rifle will be resounded far 
and wide among the hills, will disturb an incredible 
extent. Such long-enduring animals as deer will 
travel 30 or 40 miles in 24 hours, and they will 
quickly disappear. The presence of deer is seldom 
continuous in the same locality throughout all 
seasons. They are influenced by the pasturage, 
and the changes of climate: they accordingly are 
