They were not quite as tame as the black-tail, although without any difficulty I walked up to within fifty yards of them.  Handsome though the black-tail is, the white-tail is the most beautiful of all deer when in motion, because of the springy, bounding grace of its trot and canter, and the way it carries its head and white flag aloft.

Before reaching the Mammoth Hot Springs we also saw a number of ducks in the little pools and on the Gardiner.  Some of them were rather shy.  Others—­probably those which, as Major Pitcher informed me, had spent the winter there—­were as tame as barnyard fowls.

[Illustration:  Deer on the parade ground.]

Just before reaching the post the Major took me into the big field where Buffalo Jones had some Texas and Flat Head Lake buffalo—­bulls and cows—­which he was tending with solicitous care.  The original stock of buffalo in the Park have now been reduced to fifteen or twenty individuals, and the intention is to try to mix them with the score of buffalo which have been purchased out of the Flat Head Lake and Texas Panhandle herds.  The buffalo were put within a wire fence, which, when it was built, was found to have included both black-tail and white-tail deer.  A bull elk was also put in with them at one time—­he having met with some accident which made the Major and Buffalo Jones bring him in to doctor him.  When he recovered his health he became very cross.  Not only would he attack men, but also buffalo, even the old and surly master bull, thumping them savagely with his antlers if they did anything to which he objected.  When I reached the post and dismounted at the Major’s house, I supposed my experiences with wild beasts for the day were ended; but this was an error.  The quarters of the officers and men and the various hotel buildings, stables, residences of the civilian officials, etc., almost completely surround the big parade ground at the post, near the middle of which stands the flag-pole, while the gun used for morning and evening salutes is well off to one side.  There are large gaps between some of the buildings, and Major Pitcher informed me that throughout the winter he had been leaving alfalfa on the parade grounds, and that numbers of black-tail deer had been in the habit of visiting it every day, sometimes as many as seventy being on the parade ground at once.  As springtime came on the numbers diminished.  However, in mid-afternoon, while I was writing in my room in Major Pitcher’s house, on looking out of the window I saw five deer on the parade ground.  They were as tame as so many Alderney cows, and when I walked out I got up to within twenty yards of them without any difficulty.  It was most amusing to see them as the time approached for the sunset gun to be fired.  The notes of the trumpeter attracted their attention at once.  They all looked at him eagerly.  One then resumed feeding, and paid no attention whatever either to the bugle, the gun or