AVALANCHE AND SLIDE-ROCK 283 



bones on the Montana ranges once told the story of 

 buffalo slaughter. 



No wonder the timber-haunting mule deer jump and 

 fly at break-neck speed whenever a mischief-loving 

 hunter rolls a big rock over the edge of a clifif into their 

 cover. They very wisely *' fear the awful avalanche." 

 For the same cause, bears and lynxes also madly fly for 

 tall timber, to the hilarity of many a hunter. They are 

 wise to side-step quickly whenever they hear a roar 

 higher up. 



But the mountain sheep and goats are different. They 

 dwell mostly where the snow-slides start, and they fear 

 the latter very little. A goat cares naught for a falling 

 rock, and to him an avalanche is an incident of passing 

 interest, no more. Mr. W. H. Wright tells me that he 

 once rolled several rocks directly over a goat that was 

 feeding close to the foot of a mountain wall, and the ani- 

 mal coolly went on with his luncheon. 



In order that I may here place before the Reader 

 an exact and authoritative statement regarding the genesis 

 and exodus of avalanches in the Canadian Rockies, our 

 mountain savant, Mr. Charles L. Smith, has kindly 

 written this: 



SNOW-SLIDES, AND THEIR DANGERS 



" But few people, except those living in a mountainous 

 country, have any idea of the tremendous force of a snow- 

 slide. There are two kinds, one of which we call a ' dry 

 §]ide,' and the other a ' wet slide.' 



