THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS T53 



covered the cause of alarm, away they go, over hill and 

 ravine, occasionally stopping to look round, and when 

 ascending the steepest hill, there is no apparent dimi- 

 nution of their speed. They will ascend and descend 

 places, when thus alarmed, so inaccessible that it is 

 almost impossible to conceive how, and where, they find 

 a foothold. When observed before they see the hunter, 

 or while they are looking about when first alarmed, are 

 the only opportunities the hunter has to shoot them; for, 

 as soon as they start there is no hope, as to follow and 

 find them is a task not easily accomplished, for where 

 or how far they go when thus on the alert, heaven only 

 knows, as but few hunters have ever attempted a chase. 

 At all times they have to be approached with the greatest 

 caution, as the least thing renders them on the qui vive. 

 When not found on these shelves, they are seen on the 

 tops of the most inaccessible and highest hills, looking 

 down on the hunters, apparently conscious of their secur- 

 ity, or else lying down tranquilly in some sunny spot 

 quite out of reach. As I have observed before, the only 

 times that these animals can be shot are when on these 

 ledges, or when moving from one point to another. 

 Sometimes they move only a few hundred yards, but it 

 will take the hunter several hours to approach near enough 

 for a shot, so long are the detours he is compelled to make. 

 I have been thus baffled two or three times. The less 

 difficult hills are found cut up by paths made by these 

 animals ; these are generally about eighteen inches wide. 

 These animals appear to be quite as agile as the European 

 Chamois, leaping down precipices, across ravines, and 

 running up and down almost perpendicular hills. The 

 only places I could find that seemed to afford food for 

 them, was between the cedars, as I have before mentioned ; 

 but the places where they are most frequently found are 

 barren, and without the least vestige of vegetation. From 

 the character of the lands where these animals are found, 



