er since continued to enjoy doing so. Of course I could have had one
of the boys to live with me; but no matter what good fellows cowboys
generally are, their being in very close companionship is not agreeable,
some of their habits being beastly. Thus it came about that my life was
a very solitary one, as it had been in India, and as it afterwards
continued to be in New Mexico and Texas. Few visitors came to my camp in
summer or winter. Now and then I was gladdened by a visit of one or
other of my partners, one of whom, however, cared nothing for fishing or
shooting, and the other was much of the time entirely absent from the
country. During our short periodical round-ups of course I attended the
"work" with the rest; but to spend one whole month, as I did once,
without not only not conversing with, but absolutely not seeing a human
being, is an experience that has probably come to very few men indeed.
However, as said before, life in the White Mountains of Arizona was very
enjoyable. Peaks ran up to 10,000 feet; and the elevation of my camp
was about 8000 feet. Round about were extensive open parks and meadows,
delightfully clear creeks and streams; grass a foot high, vast stretches
of pine timber, deep and rocky canons, etc., etc.

When we first shoved our cattle up there the whole country was a virgin
one, no settlements or houses, no roads of any kind, except one or two
Indian hunting trails, no cattle, sheep or horses. There were, as
already stated, elk, mountain sheep, antelope, deer, bears, panthers,
porcupines, coons, any amount of wild turkey, spruce grouse, green
pigeons, quail, etc., etc. There were virgin rivers of considerable
size, swarming with trout, many of which it was my luck to first explore
and cast a fly into. Most of this lovely country, as said before, was
part of the Apache Indian Reservation, on which no one was allowed to
trespass; but the boundary line was ill-defined and it was difficult to
keep our cattle out of the forbidden territory. Indeed, we did not try
to do so.

The Indian settlement was at Fort Apache, some thirty miles from my
camp. These people, having such an evil reputation, are worthy of a few
more notes. Such tales of cruelty and savagery were told of them as to
be almost incredible. They were the terror of Arizona and New Mexico,
yet they were not entirely to blame. Government ill-treatment of
Cochise, the great chief of the Chiricaua Apaches, had set the whole
tribe on the