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Steep Trails-Part30_John Muir(1838-1914)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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elk roamed through the woods and over the plains to the east of the

Cascades in immense numbers; now they are rarely seen except by



experiencedhunters who know their haunts in the deepest and most

inaccessible solitudes to which they have been driven. So majestic an



animal forms a tempting mark for the sportsman's rifle. Countless

thousands have been killed for mere amusement and they already seem to



be nearing extinction as rapidly as the buffalo. The antelope also is

vanishing from the Columbia plains before the farmers and cattlemen.



Whether the moose still lingers in Oregon or Washington I am unable to

say.



On the highest mountains of the Cascade Range the wild goat roams in

comparativesecurity, few of his enemies caring to go so far in



pursuit and to hunt on ground so high and dangerous. He is a brave,

sturdy shaggymountaineer of an animal, enjoying the freedom and



security of crumbling ridges and overhanging cliffs above the

glaciers, oftentimes beyond the reach of the most daringhunter. They



seem to be as much at home on the ice and snowfields as on the crags,

making their way in flocks from ridge to ridge on the great volcanic



mountains by crossing the glaciers that lie between them, traveling in

single file guided by an old experienced leader, like a party of



climbers on the Alps. On these ice-journeys they pick their way

through networks of crevasses and over bridges of snow with admirable



skill, and the mountaineer may seldom do better in such places than to

follow their trail, if he can. In the rich alpine gardens and meadows



they find abundance of food, venturing sometimes well down in the

prairie openings on the edge of the timberline, but holding themselves



ever alert and watchful, ready to flee to their highland castles at

the faintest alarm. When their summer pastures are buried beneath the



winter snows, they make haste to the lower ridges, seeking the wind-beaten

crags and slopes where the snow cannot lie at any great depth,



feeding at times on the leaves and twigs of bushes when grass is

beyond reach.



The wild sheep is another admirablealpine rover, but comparatively

rare in the Oregon mountains, choosing rather the drier ridges to the



southward on the Cascades and to the eastward among the spurs of the

Rocky Mountain chain.



Deer give beautiful animation to the forests, harmonizing finely in

their color and movements with the gray and brown shafts of the trees



and the swaying of the branches as they stand in groups at rest, or

move gracefully and noiselessly over the mossy ground about the edges



of beaver meadows and flowery glades, daintily culling the leaves and

tips of the mints and aromatic bushes on which they feed. There are



three species, the black-tailed, white-tailed, and mule deer; the last

being restricted in its range to the open woods and plains to the



eastward of the Cascades. They are nowhere very numerous now, killing

for food, for hides, or for mere wanton sport, having well-nigh



exterminated them in the more accessible regions, while elsewhere they

are too often at the mercy of the wolves.



Gliding about in their shady forest homes, keeping well out of sight,

there is a multitude of sleek fur-clad animals living and enjoying



their clean, beautiful lives. How beautiful and interesting they are

is about as difficult for busy mortals to find out as if their homes



were beyond sight in the sky. Hence the stories of every wild hunter

and trapper are eagerly listened to as being possibly true, or partly



so, however thickly clothed in successive folds of exaggeration and

fancy. Unsatisfying as these accounts must be, a tourist's frightened



rush and scramble through the woods yields far less than the hunter's

wildest stories, while in writing we can do but little more than to



give a few names, as they come to mind,--beaver, squirrel, coon, fox,

marten, fisher, otter, ermine, wildcat,--only this instead of full



descriptions of the bright-eyed furry throng, their snug home nests,

their fears and fights and loves, how they get their food, rear their



young, escape their enemies, and keep themselves warm and well and




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