A GREAT MOUNTAIN SHEEP HUNT 241 



something alkaline. The young billy was growing his 

 first whiskers, and in a dignified manner he resented cer- 

 tain playful advances on the part of the kid. 



"After we had watched them for some time, the 

 mother-goat winded us, and after a mild stare in our 

 direction, started up the apparently vertical cliff, the 

 young billy following her. The kid, not knowing of our 

 presence, and being deserted by its mother, immediately 

 set out on its own account to climb up a perpendicular 

 chimney in the wall. The crack was about four feet wide, 

 and inasmuch as there were no footholds discernible from 

 where we stood, we expected to witness the ultimate 

 downfall of the kid. 



" The little fellow bounced nimbly from side to side, 

 making jumps from two to three feet high. When about 

 twenty-five feet up he made a spring across, struck on an 

 apparently smooth wall, and seemed to lose his footing. 

 The most surprising thing was that he shoved himself 

 backward with his front feet, and alighted safely on the 

 invisible foothold which he had left four feet below. He 

 then bounced down from side to side, like a rubber ball, 

 galloped like a hobby-horse under the base of the cliff, 

 and scrambled up after his mother and older brother. 



" When we arose and walked to the goats' point of 

 departure, they looked down upon us from the cliff, with 

 the indifference of conscious security. We were no 

 doubt the first human beings they had ever seen, and 

 of course they regarded us with curiosity. Possibly 

 they thought we were bears of a new species, walking 

 upright." 



