214 Sheep 



about a week after the latter rejoins the Hock. The six-months-old lambs 

 constantly lose themselves, to wander about in a bewildered state. The 

 ewe is a devoted mother, and although by nature these sheep are exceed- 

 ingly timid, should her offspring be injured she will not desert it. On the 

 other hand, an old ram severely wounded in a place trom which he cannot 

 leap, seems mad with rage and tear, as, with hair turned the wrong way, 

 he charges desperately when closely approached. 



A lamb makes a charming pet, and a male which was brought up in 

 Miles City used to run about the cantonment ; and so superior were its 

 leaping powers, that when chased by dogs, or otherwise alarmed, it grace- 

 fully bounded on to the roofs of the houses, which consisted of one story. 

 Remarkable as are the leaping powers ot these sheep, the tacilitv with 

 which they walk up a sheer cliff seems even more remarkable. They will 

 walk a little way in a zigzag manner to stop and look, then advance a little 

 farther and again stop to reconnoitre on a face of rock steep enough to 

 appal a cat, until they hnally disappear over the top. This they are able 

 to do by the structure ot their feet, the exterior and interior line of each 

 hoof being perfectly straight, while the toes are bevelled on the inside in 

 such a way, that each division ot the hoof catches in the soft rock like the 

 blade of a pair of shears. In consequence of this, they make a square track, 

 which can never be mistaken for that of deer or prongbuck, even by 

 an unpractised eye. 



Bighorn possess a strong scent, readily perceptible to human nostrils if 

 they are in any numbers and the wind favourable. Horses quickly smell 

 them, and my horse once stopped, refusing to proceed along the " divide " 

 on which I was riding. Expecting some fierce beast, I crawled to the 

 edge, only to discover a solitary ewe. Another horse, accustomed to carry 

 deer, became frenzied when two sheep were packed on him. Although 

 they never stay in them, sheep have no objection to passing through woods. 

 1 occupied a ranch at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains, to which they 



