It seems that man-height is the least fortunate of all heights from which to study trails. It is better to go up the front of some tall hill, say the spur of Black Mountain, looking back and down across the hollow of the Ceriso. Strange how long the soil keeps the impression of any continuous treading, even after grass has overgrown it. Twenty years since, a brief heyday6 of mining at Black Mountain made a stage road across the Ceriso, yet the parallel lines that are the wheel traces show from the height dark and well defined. Afoot in the Ceriso one looks in vain for any sign of it. So all the paths that wild creatures use going down to the Lone7 Tree Spring are mapped out whitely from this level, which is also the level of the hawks9.
There is little water in the Ceriso at the best of times, and that little brackish10 and smelling vilely11, but by a lone juniper where the rim12 of the Ceriso breaks away to the lower country, there is a perpetual rill of fresh sweet drink in the midst of lush grass and watercress. In the dry season there is no water else for a man's long journey of a day. East to the foot of Black Mountain, and north and south without counting, are the burrows13 of small rodents15, rat and squirrel kind. Under the sage16 are the shallow forms of the jackrabbits, and in the dry banks of washes, and among the strewn fragments of black rock, lairs17 of bobcat, fox, and coyote.
The coyote is your true water-witch, one who snuffs and paws, snuffs and paws again at the smallest spot of moisture-scented earth until he has freed the blind water from the soil. Many water-holes are no more than this detected by the lean hobo of the hills in localities where not even an Indian would look for it.
It is the opinion of many wise and busy people that the hill-folk pass the ten-month interval19 between the end and renewal20 of winter rains, with no drink; but your true idler, with days and nights to spend beside the water trails, will not subscribe21 to it. The trails begin, as I said, very far back in the Ceriso, faintly, and converge22 in one span broad, white, hard-trodden way in the gully of the spring. And why trails if there are no travelers in that direction?
I have yet to find the land not scarred by the thin, far roadways of rabbits and what not of furry23 folks that run in them. Venture to look for some seldom-touched water-hole, and so long as the trails run with your general direction make sure you are right, but if they begin to cross yours at never so slight an angle, to converge toward a point left or right of your objective, no matter what the maps say, or your memory, trust them; they know.
It is very still in the Ceriso by day, so that were it not for the evidence of those white beaten ways, it might be the desert it looks. The sun is hot in the dry season, and the days are filled with the glare of it. Now and again some unseen coyote signals his pack in a long-drawn, dolorous24 whine25 that comes from no determinate point, but nothing stirs much before mid-afternoon. It is a sign when there begin to be hawks skimming above the sage that the little people are going about their business.
We have fallen on a very careless usage, speaking of wild creatures as if they were bound by some such limitation as hampers26 clockwork. When we say of one and another, they are night prowlers, it is perhaps true only as the things they feed upon are more easily come by in the dark, and they know well how to adjust themselves to conditions wherein food is more plentiful28 by day. And their accustomed performance is very much a matter of keen eye, keener scent4, quick ear, and a better memory of sights and sounds than man dares boast. Watch a coyote come out of his lair18 and cast about in his mind where he will go for his daily killing29. You cannot very well tell what decides him, but very easily that he has decided30. He trots31 or breaks into short gallops32, with very perceptible pauses to look up and about at landmarks33, alters his tack34 a little, looking forward and back to steer35 his proper course.
I am persuaded that the coyotes in my valley, which is narrow and beset36 with steep, sharp hills, in long passages steer by the pinnacles37 of the sky-line, going with head cocked to one side to keep to the left or right of such and such a promontory38.
I have trailed a coyote often, going across country, perhaps to where some slant39-winged scavenger40 hanging in the air signaled prospect41 of a dinner, and found his track such as a man, a very intelligent man accustomed to a hill country, and a little cautious, would make to the same point. Here a detour42 to avoid a stretch of too little cover, there a pause on the rim of a gully to pick the better way,—and it is usually the best way,—and making his point with the greatest economy of effort. Since the time of Seyavi the deer have shifted their feeding ground across the valley at the beginning of deep snows, by way of the Black Rock, fording the river at Charley's Butte, and making straight for the mouth of the canon that is the easiest going to the winter pastures on Waban. So they still cross, though whatever trail they had has been long broken by ploughed ground; but from the mouth of Tinpah Creek44, where the deer come out of the Sierras, it is easily seen that the creek, the point of Black Rock, and Charley's Butte are in line with the wide bulk of shade that is the foot of Waban Pass. And along with this the deer have learned that Charley's Butte is almost the only possible ford43, and all the shortest crossing of the valley. It seems that the wild creatures have learned all that is important to their way of life except the changes of the moon. I have seen some prowling fox or coyote, surprised by its sudden rising from behind the mountain wall, slink in its increasing glow, watch it furtively45 from the cover of near-by brush, unprepared and half uncertain of its identity until it rode clear of the peaks, and finally make off with all the air of one caught napping by an ancient joke. The moon in its wanderings must be a sort of exasperation46 to cunning beasts, likely to spoil by untimely risings some fore-planned mischief47.
But to take the trail again; the coyotes that are astir in the Ceriso of late afternoons, harrying48 the rabbits from their shallow forms, and the hawks that sweep and swing above them, are not there from any mechanical promptings of instinct, but because they know of old experience that the small fry are about to take to seed gathering49 and the water trails. The rabbits begin it, taking the trail with long, light leaps, one eye and ear cocked to the hills from whence a coyote might descend50 upon them at any moment. Rabbits are a foolish people. They do not fight except with their own kind, nor use their paws except for feet, and appear to have no reason for existence but to furnish meals for meat-eaters. In flight they seem to rebound51 from the earth of their own elasticity52, but keep a sober pace going to the spring. It is the young watercress that tempts53 them and the pleasures of society, for they seldom drink. Even in localities where there are flowing streams they seem to prefer the moisture that collects on herbage, and after rains may be seen rising on their haunches to drink delicately the clear drops caught in the tops of the young sage. But drink they must, as I have often seen them mornings and evenings at the rill that goes by my door. Wait long enough at the Lone Tree Spring and sooner or later they will all come in. But here their matings are accomplished54, and though they are fearful of so little as a cloud shadow or blown leaf, they contrive55 to have some playful hours. At the spring the bobcat drops down upon them from the black rock, and the red fox picks them up returning in the dark. By day the hawk8 and eagle overshadow them, and the coyote has all times and seasons for his own.
Cattle, when there are any in the Ceriso, drink morning and evening, spending the night on the warm last lighted slopes of neighboring hills, stirring with the peep o' day. In these half wild spotted56 steers57 the habits of an earlier lineage persist. It must be long since they have made beds for themselves, but before lying down they turn themselves round and round as dogs do. They choose bare and stony58 ground, exposed fronts of westward59 facing hills, and lie down in companies. Usually by the end of the summer the cattle have been driven or gone of their own choosing to the mountain meadows. One year a maverick60 yearling, strayed or overlooked by the vaqueros, kept on until the season's end, and so betrayed another visitor to the spring that else I might have missed. On a certain morning the half-eaten carcass lay at the foot of the black rock, and in moist earth by the rill of the spring, the foot-pads of a cougar61, puma62, mountain lion, or whatever the beast is rightly called. The kill must have been made early in the evening, for it appeared that the cougar had been twice to the spring; and since the meat-eater drinks little until he has eaten, he must have fed and drunk, and after an interval of lying up in the black rock, had eaten and drunk again. There was no knowing how far he had come, but if he came again the second night he found that the coyotes had left him very little of his kill.
Nobody ventures to say how infrequently and at what hour the small fry visit the spring. There are such numbers of them that if each came once between the last of spring and the first of winter rains, there would still be water trails. I have seen badgers63 drinking about the hour when the light takes on the yellow tinge64 it has from coming slantwise through the hills. They find out shallow places, and are loath65 to wet their feet. Rats and chipmunks66 have been observed visiting the spring as late as nine o'clock mornings.
The larger spermophiles that live near the spring and keep awake to work all day, come and go at no particular hour, drinking sparingly. At long intervals67 on half-lighted days, meadow and field mice steal delicately along the trail. These visitors are all too small to be watched carefully at night, but for evidence of their frequent coming there are the trails that may be traced miles out among the crisping grasses. On rare nights, in the places where no grass grows between the shrubs68, and the sand silvers whitely to the moon, one sees them whisking to and fro on innumerable errands of seed gathering, but the chief witnesses of their presence near the spring are the elf owls69. Those burrow14-haunting, speckled fluffs of greediness begin a twilight70 flitting toward the spring, feeding as they go on grasshoppers71, lizards72, and small, swift creatures, diving into burrows to catch field mice asleep, battling with chipmunks at their own doors, and getting down in great numbers toward the long juniper. Now owls do not love water greatly on its own account. Not to my knowledge have I caught one drinking or bathing, though on night wanderings across the mesa they flit up from under the horse's feet along stream borders. Their presence near the spring in great numbers would indicate the presence of the things they feed upon. All night the rustle73 and soft hooting74 keeps on in the neighborhood of the spring, with seldom small shrieks75 of mortal agony. It is clear day before they have all gotten back to their particular hummocks76, and if one follows cautiously, not to frighten them into some near-by burrow, it is possible to trail them far up the slope.
The crested77 quail79 that troop in the Ceriso are the happiest frequenters of the water trails. There is no furtiveness80 about their morning drink. About the time the burrowers and all that feed upon them are addressing themselves to sleep, great flocks pour down the trails with that peculiar81 melting motion of moving quail, twittering, shoving, and shouldering. They splatter into the shallows, drink daintily, shake out small showers over their perfect coats, and melt away again into the scrub, preening82 and pranking, with soft contented83 noises.
After the quail, sparrows and ground-inhabiting birds bathe with the utmost frankness and a great deal of splutter; and here in the heart of noon hawks resort, sitting panting, with wings aslant84, and a truce85 to all hostilities86 because of the heat. One summer there came a road-runner up from the lower valley, peeking87 and prying88, and he had never any patience with the water baths of the sparrows. His own ablutions were performed in the clean, hopeful dust of the chaparral; and whenever he happened on their morning splatterings, he would depress his glossy89 crest78, slant his shining tail to the level of his body, until he looked most like some bright venomous snake, daunting90 them with shrill91 abuse and feint of battle. Then suddenly he would go tilting92 and balancing down the gully in fine disdain93, only to return in a day or two to make sure the foolish bodies were still at it.
Out on the Ceriso about five miles, and wholly out of sight of it, near where the immemorial foot trail goes up from Saline Flat toward Black Mountain, is a water sign worth turning out of the trail to see. It is a laid circle of stones large enough not to be disturbed by any ordinary hap27, with an opening flanked by two parallel rows of similar stones, between which were an arrow placed, touching94 the opposite rim of the circle, thus it would point as the crow flies to the spring. It is the old, indubitable water mark of the Shoshones. One still finds it in the desert ranges in Salt Wells and Mesquite valleys, and along the slopes of Waban. On the other side of Ceriso, where the black rock begins, about a mile from the spring, is the work of an older, forgotten people. The rock hereabout is all volcanic95, fracturing with a crystalline whitish surface, but weathered outside to furnace blackness. Around the spring, where must have been a gathering place of the tribes, it is scored over with strange pictures and symbols that have no meaning to the Indians of the present day; but out where the rock begins, there is carved into the white heart of it a pointing arrow over the symbol for distance and a circle full of wavy96 lines reading thus: "In this direction three [units of measurement unknown] is a spring of sweet water; look for it."
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1
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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2
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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3
plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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4
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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heyday
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| n.全盛时期，青春期 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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8
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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10
brackish
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| adj.混有盐的；咸的 | |
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vilely
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| adv.讨厌地，卑劣地 | |
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12
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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13
burrows
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| n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻 | |
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burrow
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| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
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15
rodents
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| n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 ) | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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lairs
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| n.（野兽的）巢穴，窝( lair的名词复数 )；（人的）藏身处 | |
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lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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19
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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20
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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21
subscribe
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| vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助 | |
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converge
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| vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近 | |
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23
furry
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| adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的 | |
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dolorous
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| adj.悲伤的；忧愁的 | |
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whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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hampers
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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hap
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| n.运气；v.偶然发生 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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trots
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| 小跑，急走( trot的名词复数 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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gallops
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| （马等）奔驰，骑马奔驰( gallop的名词复数 ) | |
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landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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scavenger
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| n.以腐尸为食的动物，清扫工 | |
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41
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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42
detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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44
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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45
furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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46
exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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47
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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48
harrying
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| v.使苦恼( harry的现在分词 )；不断烦扰；一再袭击；侵扰 | |
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49
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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50
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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51
rebound
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| v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回 | |
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52
elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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53
tempts
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| v.引诱或怂恿（某人）干不正当的事( tempt的第三人称单数 )；使想要 | |
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54
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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55
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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56
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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57
steers
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| n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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58
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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maverick
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| adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者 | |
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61
cougar
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| n.美洲狮；美洲豹 | |
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62
puma
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| 美洲豹 | |
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63
badgers
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| n.獾( badger的名词复数 )；獾皮；（大写）獾州人（美国威斯康星州人的别称）；毛鼻袋熊 | |
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64
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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65
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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66
chipmunks
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| n.金花鼠( chipmunk的名词复数 ) | |
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67
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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68
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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69
owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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70
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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71
grasshoppers
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| n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的 | |
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72
lizards
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| n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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73
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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74
hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
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75
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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76
hummocks
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| n.小丘，岗( hummock的名词复数 ) | |
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77
crested
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| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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78
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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79
quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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80
furtiveness
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| 偷偷摸摸，鬼鬼祟祟 | |
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81
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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82
preening
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| v.（鸟）用嘴整理（羽毛）( preen的现在分词 ) | |
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83
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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84
aslant
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| adv.倾斜地；adj.斜的 | |
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85
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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86
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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87
peeking
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| v.很快地看( peek的现在分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出 | |
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88
prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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89
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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90
daunting
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| adj.使人畏缩的 | |
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91
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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92
tilting
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| 倾斜，倾卸 | |
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93
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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94
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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95
volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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