BEAVER CANALS, MEADOWS, AND TRAILS. 215 



two hundred. Their flesh, upon which we occasion- 

 ally feasted, is superior to that of the elk or the buf- 

 falo. Elks were frequently seen in small herds of 

 twenty or thirty. 



Another characteristic animal of the Upper Mis- 

 souri is the mountain sheep. They were formerly found 

 as low down as the confluence of Cannon-ball River, 

 but now they are rarely seen below the Bad Lands. 

 We first saw them among the "white walls," in flocks 

 of from ten to twenty. They are of a brown color, 

 somewhat larger than the common sheep, and of tim- 

 orous disposition. Along the faces of the steepest 

 cliffs, where the slightest footing can be had, they run 

 with assurance and rapidity, working their way up 

 through places apparently impassable. 



Fig. 22. 



Trails of Mountain Sheep un Dlulls near confluence of Muscle bliell River. 



Above the "white walls," where the blufis rise in 

 places three hundred feet high, the footprints or trails 

 of the mountain sheep are very frequently seen on 

 their steep declivities. A representation of these trails 

 is given in the figure (Fig. 22). The banks rise pre- 

 cipitously, apparently at an angle of 70° or 80°, with a 

 smooth surface and devoid of vegetation. No animal 

 found in the region, except the mountain sheep, could 

 either ascend or move in a horizontal hne upon such 

 bluffs and maintain his footing. These footprints 



