The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-01-24
FOLLOWING TIE ELK.
HUNTING THO hNrLEHEo MONARCH
~ THG ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

over Rocks and snow hsNoO lcct AbuNo ]
Sea Level In Coiorndo-A Most Msrnin-
icent sight--A Gas, Of ruck Ague-- The .
Built TIks as the Result Of tho Raid.
"Histr said theguidc suddenly sitting
bolt upright In his blanket. lie, the ten
dtrfoot and the second guide all listened
mteutly, aud there fell softly from some
lac height through the still mountain air
IN oft repeated Whistliug call lt meant
nothing 10 the truderfuut. but both gut les
exclaimed, eek" "Thcrp, up YONG rr
said one Of the guides, pointing to high
peak Of the Flat Top range, now family
touched with the tints OF coming dawn.
The camp where the three men lay under
the stars, their horses picketed near at
hand, was beside the swift Williams fork,
ia a green valley of Routt county, Colo,
nearly coo feet above the sea level. The
height, whence fell that mysterious C'il,
rose snowy and pine clad 1000 or 5000
feet higher.
It still lacked more than an hour Of sun
rise and one Of the guides had to be uis-
patched down the valley to its sole fan M
house in search of supplies. IL was, there
fore. late in the morning before the ton
derfout and his two guides were climbing
ON broncho back toward the far line of he
green timber. The plan was to 90 thus lar
with the horses, and leaving them ON The
upper edge Of the aspens to begin Che
hunt ON foot with the aid of the trained
dog, which was the fourth member of the
party. The green timber, standing in
deep snow and numbered by many fallen
trees, is practically unfit for horsemcn
One after another bare rock crowned peaks
and far tree clad or grassy valleys were
unveiled to the travellers. The tenderfoOt,
unused to the atmosphere of that high al
titude, found his throat parched and his
lips cracking with thirst long before the
aspeus had been passed. The green tim
Der once reached, the hunters cast the
reins over their horses heads and left the
animals standing thus with the certainty
that they could be found when needed.
Then began that weary ascent of the
snowclad heights. 1t had been agreed that
not even the great sprawling plantigrade
track of the grizzly bear should draw the
hunters aside from their purpose. Elk
was the object of that expedition, and elk
alone should claim their attention
They would have joined in no such
noisy sport, nor would they have stopped
to prepare their game for the spit had they
known that the elk herd was onl Y 500
yards away Elk in that part of the
Rockies go in droves that may number 40
or so. 1t il not uncommon for II single
great bull to lead a polygamous family Of
is or 20 cows, with half n dozen younger
bulls hanging about the edge of the
herd. The head of this strange household
usually keeps his wives in single file ahead
of him, and in this fashion they traverse
the mountains When sudden thirst
seizes the great bull, he starts with II mad
rush for the valley where the nearest
stream flows. He strikes with his great
horns the flank of the first COW that stands
in his way, and thus the whole herd is
started in headlong gallop down whatever
rough steep leads to the valley below
This downward flight of the elk herd, 80
or 40 great creatures, swift rs galloping
horses, sure footed as the Andean llama,
is one of the sights of the Rockies.
While the second guide talked softly
with the tenderfoOt of the ell's habits the
first guide, a sturdy young blacksmith from
distant valley, trudged some yards
ahead As things stood thus, he sudden
" called in loud whisper and beckoned
the laggards onward with gesture of eX
citement. As the tenderfoot fastened
over the 80 or 40 yards of snow between
himself and the blacksmith, the latter
pointed onward through the pines, and
the tenderfoot saw through a short vista,
for the first time in his life, wild elk free
upon his native ground. The great crea-
ture doomed large as big COW, its branch
ing, massive horns extending far along
its sides. The tenderfoot was utterly out
of breath half wild with excitement and
the victim of buck fever.
"Take your shot, " said the guide in a
whisper denoting suppressed excitement,
as he held the straining hound. The
tenderfoot raised the winchester to his
shoulder, but the weapon wobbled as If in
the hands of palsied man. The guides
looked with a sort of professional horror.
Still the gun wobbled and its owner did
not shoot. "For God 5 sake, keep that gun
quiet - whispered a guide hoarsely. By
this time all could see a dozen more elk
moving about through the forest but the
great bull still stoodIn silent cOntempla-
ton of the hunters The tenderfoot, de
spairing of himself, knelt down and clasp
ed his shaking weapon against his should
err Then, determined not to be hurried
into bad shot, he watched the trembling
muzzle until it passed across the breast of
the bull Then he fired. The great crea-
ture leaped from his place, and the guide
fired at his retreating figure. suddenly
the woods seemed full of the swift NOV
ing elk The hunters shot and shot sgain.
The dog was now in full cry, and the hunt
ers followed the game as rapidly as posi-
bic. The whole herd was plunging head
long through the green timber. One bull
was fastening with the dog at his heels
The dog would seize the fetlock, drop it.
and crouch as the great creature kicked.
Finally. the dog, still clingng to the
bulls hind leg, was dragged over faller
log. As the bull took his leap one of th'
hunters fired, and the elk fell dead.
The air was now filled with the sounC
of the retreating elk as they plunged
through the underbursh. The herd wai
rapidly getting out of range, and the hunt
ers paused TO note what execution they
had done. Three elk bulls lay dead. THAI
which the tenderfoot had first fired at hat
moved only few feet from his Origina
stand. The bullet aimed with so mucl
difficulty had reached his heart. Tn,
guide had inflicted only "A slight wound.
Two of the great antlcred leads wer
taken off by the guides 1t was impossible
to carry away the flesh or even the skins
and the party heavily laden with the ant
lers and choice portions of the meat, start
ed downward through the green timber to
ward the horses The journey was mad
with laborious slowness in Difference 4
the tenderfoot's wornout condition. Tn
horses were sighted after three hours, ant
found patiently waiting almost exactly
where they had been left. The docile pacl
horse, which had followed the trail al
the morning like IA kitten, was laden witt
the antlered heads and the meat, and tn
homeward journey was continued into tn
comparative civilization of the valley
New York sun.
Mary the Most Popular Name.
According to statistics, Mary is til
most popular of Christian names FOLLOW