THE MOUNTAIN GOAT AS WE SAW HIM 123 



was shooting in about the same locality as that in which 

 your goats were caught, and there I witnessed the finish 

 of a fight between two large billies. I had shot at a 

 mountain sheep ram on the sky-line, and to find out the 

 effect of my shot I climbed to the summit. At the top 

 I sat down to rest, and look for the ram, and enjoy the 

 grandeur of the view. As I sat there motionless, two 

 goats came around a corner of rock only about fifty yards 

 away from me. They were walking rather fast, and 

 whenever the goat in the rear caught up with the one 

 before him, he gave it a blow with his head. It did not 

 seem to be a vigorous butt, and at first I thought it was 

 play. They were making a low, peculiar sound, such 

 as I cannot describe in words. 



" In a very short time, one of the goats lay down 

 behind a large rock, so that I could see only its head. 

 The other goat stood, and looked at the one lying down. 

 Just then they saw me, and this seemed to stop the fight, 

 for the standing goat began to move away. I fired and 

 killed him; but to my surprise the other goat lay still. 

 I could not hit him from where I was without spoiling 

 his head, so I climbed around to get a better shot. 

 Finally I got quite close, and had a good general view 

 of him. Then he stood up, took one or two steps, and 

 stood still. I then saw that he was bleeding around his 

 neck, that one flank was badly torn, and that some of 

 his intestines were hanging out until they almost touched 

 the ground! He was so far gone he could scarcely stand, 

 and to end his troubles quickly, I shot him. 



" That was the only fight to the death that I ever 



