The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1890-12-26

THEODORE ROOSEVELT TELLS or
AN EXPERIENCE IN THE WEST.

AN EXPERIENCE IN The WEST
Having m Empty tardcr the Ranchmen
SGT Out 60 Hunt Dccr-rhey strike
Trail. secure the ueme and Get Cola
Ducklng.
One December, while / was out on my
ranch, SO much work had to be done that
It was within week Of Christmas before
we were able TO take any. thought for the
Christmas dinner The winter set In late
that year and there had been comparatively
little cold weather, but one day the ice
on the river had been sufficiently strong
to enable us to haul up wagon load Of
-four, with enough salt pork TO last through
the winter, and a very few cans Of timed
goods to be used at special feasts. We had
some bushels of potatoes, the heroic victors
Of n struggle for existence, in which the rest
Of our garden vegetables had succumbed to
drouth, frost and grasshoppers; and we also
had some wild plums and dried elk venison-
| But we had no fresh meat, and so one day
my foreman and agreed to mako hunt
! on the morrow.
The air was bitterly chilli the cold had
been severe for two days, so that the river
ice would again bear horses; 1t had already
frozen once and then again thawed. Be
meath the light covering of powdery snow
we could feel the rough ground like
wrinkled iron under the horses hoofs
There was no moon, but the stars shone
brilliantly down through the cold, clear
air and our willing horses galloped swiftly
across the long bottom on which the ranch
house stood, threading their way deity
among the clumps of sprawling sage
brush. A mile off we crossed the river, the
ice cracking with noises like pistol shots
as our horses picked their way gngerly
over it.
As the dawn Redeemed, and it became
light enough to see objects some little
way off, we began to sit erect in our sad,
dies and to scan the hillsides sharply for
sight of feeding deer. Hitherto we had
seen no deer tracks save inside the burberry
bushes by the river, and we knew that the
deer which lived in that impenetrable jun,
gle were cunning white tails, and in such a
place could only be hunted by the aid of a
hound. But just before sunrise we came
on three lines of heart shaped footmarks
in the snow, which showed where as many
deer had just crossed a little plain ahead
of us. They were walking lesurely, and
from the lay of the land we believed we
would find them over the ridge, where
there was a brush coulie Riding to one
side of the trail we topped the little ridge
just as the sun famed up burning ball
of crimson beyond the snowy waste AT
our backs. Almost Immediately afterward
my companion leaped from his horse and
raised his rifle, and as he pulled the trigger
saw through the twigs of brush patel
to our left the erect, startled head of
young black tail doe Us she turned to lool
at us, her great, mule like ears thrown for
ward
The ball broke her neck, and she turned
a complete somersault down the hill, Will,
, sudden smashing of underbrush told O.
the flight of her terrified companions. w,
. both laughed and called out "Dinnerl" a.
! we spraug down toward her, and in few
minutes she was dressed and hung up b,
the hind legs on small ash tree.
No sooner was the sun up than a warn
west wind began to blow in our faces. Thu
weather had suddenly changed, and befor
r en- hour the snow was beginning to thav
and to leave patches of bare ground on thu
Y hillsides. We left our coats with GU
r horses, and struck off on foot for grou]
, of high buttes cut up by the cedar canyon
and gorges in which we knew the oil
!. bucks loved to lie 1t was noon before W
saw anything more. We lunched at
clear spring-not needing much time, TO
I'LL we ndJl 10 10 WAS 10 uTluh u urduRlU q
icy water and MUNICH a strip of drie
venison.
r Shortly afterward, as we were moving
along a hillside with silent caution, W
came to a sheer canyon, of which the oppo
site face was broken by little lodges grow
up with wind beaten cedars AS W
peered over the edge my companion touch
ed my arm and pointed silently to one O
the lodges, and instantly caught the glin
of bucks horns as he lay half behind a
old tree trunk. A slight shift of position
gave me u fair shot slanting down betwee
his shoulders, and, though he struggled t
his feet, he did not go fifty yards after re
ceiving the bullet
This was all we could carry. Leadin
the horses around, we packed the buck bt
hind my companions saddle, and then rod
back by the doe, which put behind mine
But we were not destined to reach HON
without slight adventure. When we &c
to the river we rode boldly on the ice, heet
less of the thaw, and about midway ther
was sudden, tremendous crash, and mel
horses and deer were scrambling togetht
in the water amid slabs of floating ic
However, it was shallow, and no worse RI
suits followed than some hard work and
chilly bath. But what cared wei We wei
returning triumphant with our Christine
dinner.EPhiladelph Times.
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