264 CAMP-FIRES IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 



tinue to be sought, everywhere, so long as the law permits 

 the hunting of it. It is the boast of the Stoney Indians, — 

 the boldest mountaineers in the Columbian Rockies, — 

 that no big game can live in any country which they them- 

 selves inhabit. This is no idle boast, for they are great 

 slaughterers of game. 



While the killing of " hungers " (old rams) will not 

 exterminate a species, there are men who will not always 

 go without fresh meat when ewes and lambs are to be 

 had for the killing. In total number, the sheep of south- 

 ern British Columbi^ already are down to a very low 

 point. Many an eastern sportsman has gone to that coun- 

 try to kill a big ram, worked hard, spent nearly or quite 

 $i,ooo, and returned empty handed — because of the 

 scarcity of sheep. 



It would indeed be cause for great regret if any com- 

 bination of circumstances should bring about in the splen- 

 did mountain lands of British Columbia, the extinction 

 of the grandest mountain sheep in America. 



