A GREAT DAY WITH GOATS 83 



long. Afterward, when we walked over it, we found it 

 was free from stones, but full of broad steps, and covered 

 with a dense, greenish-purple matting of ground verdure 

 that was as soft to the foot as the thickest pile carpet. 

 The main body of this verdure is a moss-like plant called 

 mountain avens, closely related to cinquefoil, and known 

 botanically as Dryas octopetala. It has a very pretty 

 leaf measuring about iV by 3^ inches, with finely serrate 

 edges. In September a mass of it contains a mixture of 

 harmonious colors, — olive-green, brown, gray and pur- 

 ple. On this the goats were feeding. This plant is very 

 common in those mountains above timber-line, especially 

 on southern slopes; but it demands a bit of ground almost 

 exclusively for itself, and thrives best when alone. 



Along with this there grew a moss-like saxifrage 

 (Saxifraga austromontana) , which to any one not a 

 botanist seems to be straight moss. It grows in cheerful 

 little clumps of bright green, and whenever it is found 

 on a mountain-pasture, one is pleased to meet it. 



I record these notes here, because our ten goats had 

 been in no hurry. They were more than deliberate; they 

 were almost stagnant. In an hour, the farthest that any 

 one of them moved was about one hundred yards, and 

 the most of them accomplished even less than that. They 

 were already so well fed that they merely minced at the 

 green things around them. Evidently they had fed to 

 satiety in the morning hours, before we reached them. 



As they straggled forward, they covered about two 

 acres of ground. Each one seemed steeped and sodden 

 in laziness. When out grazing, our giant tortoises move 



