MOUNTAIN SPORTS. 
299 
wild wormwood ; and its flesh is said to be rendered so bitter 
by the food, as to be uneatable by hungry men. The Sharp¬ 
tailed Grouse, of all the five varieties, is that which approaches 
the most nearly to the abodes of civilized men, being killed on 
the Missouri, as far south as 41° north latitude. It is a beauti¬ 
ful and delicious bird. Mr. Bell, the deservedly celebrated 
naturalist and taxidermist of New York, to whom I take this 
opportunity of offering my thanks for assistance in this work, by 
the loan of some beautiful specimens of birds, which to design, 
informs me that he has shot them in such numbers as to consti¬ 
tute good sport. 
For the present, however, so little is known of the habits of 
the game of these wild, remote, and uncivilized regions, and so 
very few are the sportsmen, in the true sense of the word, who 
visit them, that I deem it enough to indicate their existence and 
whereabout, leaving it to a future edition, if necessary, after 
American aits and civilization shall have followed the march of 
American arms, to deal more at large with the game of the 
lately conquered territories. I believe all the game, in the pro¬ 
per sense of the term, which they do contain, from the extreme 
northern to the utmost southern limit, has been named. It will 
be time to speak of the how, the when, and the where to shoot 
them, when there shall be the who to do so on the ground. 
In the meantime, the letters and anecdotes collected by those 
gallant explorers of the remotest districts, and dwellers on the 
outmost frontiers of the United States, the officers I mean of 
the American army, will rapidly and surely add to our know¬ 
ledge on these points. 
For to their credit, and to the honor of West Point, be it 
spoken, that nine-tenths of all the correct information we pos¬ 
sess, of the geography, geology, topography, and natural his¬ 
tory of the farther Territories and Districts, apart from mere 
verbiage and fable, come from the members of the one, and 
the graduates of the other. 
A large command, I observe, has lately received the route for 
California; and when once they shall have got warm in their 
