tanding on a little rise, above a broad fertile plain of many acres,
adjacent to the banks of the river, and at the base a large orchard of
fruits and flowers. Following up the stream for some leagues, through
the same rich level, crossing and re-crossing the pure running water,
with noble salmon flashing their silver sides at every fathom, we soon
bagged as much game as we could stagger under: wild ducks, quail,
partridges, hares of a very large size, and rabbits. Not contented with
this we left the valley, and struck through a narrow gorge of the
adjoining hills. Here I caught a glimpse of a trio of _coyotes_ and
instantly blazed away with the carbine, which brought one of them
tumbling down the steep, but much to my surprise his two friends
followed, and actually bolstered up their wounded comrade, and assisted
him out of sight before I could send another bullet. They were as large
as wolves, of a light yellowish brown, with long sharp snouts, bushy
hanging tails, and a gait like the trot of a dog. They are very
disagreeable customers to sheep and other small fry, and, as I
discovered subsequently, that when badly wounded, they have a very
unpleasant way with their teeth. Continuing onward, and hardly recovered
from my astonishment at the rencounter with the _coyotes_, when up
bounded, within thirty yards, three large deer, and with the coolest
impudence stared me full in the face. _Maldito!_ the carbine was again
in the hands of my companion, some distance behind, but I could not
resist the temptation of giving a strapping buck a hail-storm of fine
shot between the eyes. Even this only made the party a little frisky,
kick up their heels, toss their heads, and wag their short tails. I was
in hopes the carbine would reach me in time to send the lead more in a
lump, but in another moment they sprang off like the wind, and the next
seen of them was in company with a large herd, a mile away, with their
graceful bodies and limbs standing in clear relief against the blue sky,
I had not a doubt but that they were relating my chagrin as a capital
buckish joke. By this time we had penetrated so far from ravine to hill
as to have completely lost our bearings, and becoming quite bewildered,
I began to entertain serious ideas of seeking some place of shelter for
the night. My attendant, too, had fallen down two or three times from
exhaustion, the sun was rapidly declining, and I was not at all pleased
with the wild appearance of t