636 UNGULATA. 



like. Diirinof the summer it ascends to a heisfht of fifteen thousand feet 

 above the sea, and prefers to stay near the fower edge of tlie melting 

 snow-fields ; in winter it descends lower, l)ut never leaves the mountain- 

 peaks. In these deserts, where the human foot seldom treads, it mo\es, 

 with the surc-footedness of its race, from rock to rock, or clambers up 

 precipices which seem inaccessible. When alarmed, the troop, led by 

 the males, rushes at full gallop to the edge of the most terrible precipices 

 and plunges down, or leaps a chasm, one after another, treading exactly 

 on the same spot, with the lightness of a winged creature, rather than 

 like a quadruped. Endowed with keen powers of smelling and hearing, 

 the Mountain Goat baffles in most cases the attempts of the hunter. The 

 Indians occasionally hunt this animal, but without any eagerness. The 

 flesh is of little value, as it is both very tough and has an odor which 

 sickens even the Redskins. The pelt is valuable, and is carried in to the 

 Hudson Bay Company's factories. Like other furs, its value varies with 

 the fashion of the day. When monkey-skin muffs and collars were in 

 vogue, the fleece of this antelope supplied material for an imitation. 



