from the
Rito until one is beyond, and opposite to San Ildefonso. They are
traversed and cut by deep ravines and canons, which run generally from
west to east, emptying their waters after storms into the valley of the
river through narrow gaps, or terminating before reaching the stream
against a towering wall of volcanic rock. Ere Shotaye noticed it, the
shrubbery had begun to grow thinner, until she noticed in front
something like a vacant space, indicating a gap; beyond that gap there
was timber again. This told her that she had reached the brink of the
first canon north of the Rito.

In these solitudes game is not by any means so plentiful as might be
supposed. This is particularly the case in the vicinity of Indian
settlements. The merciless methods of communal hunting either
exterminate or frighten away most of the larger animals. Roaming tribes
send parties of men, hunters or warriors, long distances away; and these
not only slaughter but frighten the deer, the mountain sheep, and the
mountain goat, driving them into regions less accessible to man. The
turkey alone, that noble bird, with its dark, iridescent plumage,
remains everywhere; and Shotaye had already heard their loud cackling
and calling before she entered the high timber. Several gobblers as well
as hens had run away on her approach; at last they rose into the air
one after the other, flapping their wings until they settled down on a
tall pinon that was visible from where the woman stood. There were four
birds on the tree. With necks extended and eyelids alternately opening
and shutting, they peered down on her, ready to soar away at the least
suspicious motion. Shotaye could not resist glancing at them. It seemed
as if something was creeping up the tree very slowly. Like a grayish
streak, a long body flattened itself against the trunk. Shotaye grew
attentive, and the more so as the suspicious object all at once
disappeared below the nethermost branches. The turkeys themselves were
so occupied with the appearance of the woman that they lost thought of
everything else. One of them, a gobbler, braced himself up, his breast
bulged out, his head and neck drawn in; then quickly thrusting them
forward, sent out a loud cackle. At this moment the pine-branches were
violently tossed about. With noisy flapping of their wings the hens rose
into the air; their companion flapped his wings but once or twice, and
disappeared in the tree-top. For a moment the twigs and