Bears, too, black, and brown, and
grizzly, roamed about everywhere.
So numerous were all these creatures that on one occasion the hunters
of the party brought in six wild horses, three bears, four elks, and
thirty red-deer; having shot them all a short distance ahead of the
main body, and almost without diverging from the line of march. And
this was a matter of everyday occurrence--as it had need to be,
considering the number of mouths that had to be filled.
The feathered tribes were not less numerous. Chief among these were
eagles and vultures of uncommon size, the wild goose, wild duck, and
the majestic swan.
In the midst of such profusion the trappers spent a happy time of it,
when not molested by the savages, but they frequently lost a horse or
two in consequence of the expertness of these thievish fellows. They
often wandered, however, for days at a time without seeing an Indian,
and at such times they enjoyed to the full the luxuries with which a
bountiful God had blessed these romantic regions.
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