The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-13

up in mountainous mass that is as bare
Of vegetation as the day it poured from
the heart of the earth. II was vomited
forth in the most hideous shapes magma
BILE, and seen in the moonlight these
shapes take on all kinds of horrible and
wonderful aspects. It's a region worth
travelling miles to see, and you can reach
it in days iope from Congress.
But the average man who goes there
will not see what l saw in the moonlight.
I'll tell you how the deer come TO drink
it's the prettiest sight in the world. The
first night l was on the point of going TO
sleep, when l heard snort from the top
of the bluff above me. l looked. and there
was a big buck with magnificent antlers
standing on the very brink. his dusky fig
ure sharply outlined against the sky. In
a moment his snort was answered by the
patter of many feet, and he was surround
ed by a pack of deer. 1 counted eighteen
in all The big buck ventured cautiously
down the lazy slope, and when half way
he halted, tossed his antlers about as he
shifted the air, and then gave another
musical snort. AT this signal on came the
rest of the pack They halted just behind
him. Then he ventured further down, and
presently stood so close to me that l could
have hit him with pistol shot. Here he
halted again, again tossed his head up
ana GOWN, IlSnl ana l6lls kueH gave all
other snort, and the rest of the pack came
up. Three times this way they halted.
Always the buck acted as scout, and no
one advanced till he gave the signal Ar
rived at the water, the buck waded in a
few steps, then signaled for the others to
advance and drink. And while they drank
he fell back of them several yards and
stood there as guard until they had fin
ished. Such an alert scout no human be-
ing ever made. And there was a world of
pride and dignity in him as he stood there
and watched and waited Surely. he real
lied that the fate of the entire pack de-
pended upon him, and his honors and re-
sponsibilities sat heavily upon him. 1t
took the pack perhaps ten or fifteen min
utes to satisfy its thirst. Then it moved
back from the water and stood near the
buck. Now it was the bucks turn to
drink. He STROBE forth, bent his head and
drew in great draughts of the cool water.
But he drank with his dignity still upon
him. The pack waited for him, and, wnen
he was once more at its head there was
a wild scramble of hoofs up the jagged
sides of the bluff.
Il was fascinated by the spectacle, and
resolved to witness it again. So ] stayed
another night. The performance was re-
peatcd exactly Again on the third night
they came to drink in the same way, and
the next night and the next, and so on
until it dawned upon me that must quit
loafng and get back to work. OF course
the deer scented me at once, and knew
all along Just where lay, but 1 kept very
still, and they did not seem to mind me.
THE smaller animals came at all times
of the night, and the smaller they were
the more noise they made. The foxes were
the slyeSt of all and the most timid. They
go on dead run all the time. but their
heads always wriggling from side to side
The first time thaU gniffpH nv
at camp they made a wild scamper back
to cover behind the rocks, but presently
they ventured out again, and, after three
or four essays, they finally came down
and drank.
Il only saw one bear. He was a pretty
big fellow, but I have seen lots bigger.
He came down the bluff like a big pig his
nose roofing in the ground at every step.
No, l wasn't afraid of him. There ism t
an animal in America, I believe, that will
touch man unless man makes the attack
He came within few yards of me- stood
still and stared at me. l met his gaze
calmly, and, l believe, fearlessly; then he
went on to the water, waded boldly in and
drank his FILL OF all the animals that
came to drink there only this gruff and
daring old cinnamon bear went about his
business fearlessly. Even the coyotes and
bob cats moved cautiously, and would
have turned tail and scampered off if I
had stirred about But bruin was not
that kind of an animal /
have never seen a timid bear in
this country. We don't shoot bears in
Arizona, you know. 1 meet them fire.
quently on my trips, and can handle a
rife as we'll as most men, but l never
shoot. Often we have met face to face on
narrow trail and in these cases 1 have
always acted politely and stepped aside
TO let Mr.. Bruin pass. ! never dispute the
right of way with a bear, nor court an
untimely end by firing my gun when there
is bear in sight. The kind of bears we
have in Arizona are not the kind you
read about in the Boys Own Weekly,
where Dick Lightheart and Frank Fear
less attack the big grizzlies single-handed
and Stay them after a terrible battle Our
bears are not even as big and fierce as
the grizzlies They are just common Gin
behaved gentry when you treat them with
politeness and good breeding.
Il prospected in the region a little. but
in day or so l saw there could be moth
ing located there. The lava is of too re-
cent date, and the conglomerate alto
gether too conglomerated to be of any use
whatever. In the early days there was a
picket post at Tres Alamos, and the larger
bluff back of the spring is the famous Sig
nal Butte that you have read about in
Capt Kings novel by that name. You
can't imagine what weird and uncanny
spot IL Is in the moonlight, nor what en-
trancing sights / have witnessed there
when the deer, the bear, the lynx, the
coyote and the fox came out of their hid
ing places in the dead of night and drink
at the springs"
KEEP OFT OF ALASKA