FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT. 95 
will be found to contain some of the richest mineral deposits in Alaska. 
We discovered a number of very promising quartz ledges, and with my 
own hands I dug, almost from the surface, several pieces of ore in which 
the shining metal was plainly visible. 
“ The valleys to the south of these mountains are covered with a dense 
growth of timber, principally pine, spruce, and birch, dotted occasionally 
with lakes and areas of rich grass. This grass, which is quite abundant, 
is of the red-top variety, and grows to a height of six feet. I have seen 
- patches of five, ten, and twenty acres of it. 
“The principal animal which inhabits these mountains is the far-famed 
White Sheep (Ovis dalli). This animal is not only the most graceful in 
appearance, but the most agile and wary in its native haunts of any animal 
that I know of. It is also one of the most courageous, and even fierce, 
when met by an enemy on its own rocky cliffs. 
“It is very seldom that wolves or bears, even when in their most dire 
want of food, will venture on the ledges where these apparently helpless 
and harmless animals station themselves while they calmly await the ene- 
my’s approach. In attacking, the graceful yet strong neck of the sheep is 
slightly arched, the shapely head with its massive horns is lowered, the 
hoofs seem to be glued to the rocks, until with one lightning bound it meets 
its antagonist. 
“The most erroneous idea that I have ever heard advanced, but which 
I was once led to believe, until I watched for weeks the movements of 
these animals, was that these sheep alight on their heads when jumping 
down perpendicular walls of rock. This is absolutely untrue. I have 
watched carefully their movements, under every condition, and in every 
instance they came down on all fours, with the feet slightly drawn to- 
gether under the body. I have seen them make some remarkable leaps, 
and which would seem incredible except to those who have made a careful 
study of the animal in its native haunts. 
“During the severe winter months these sheep hibernate to a certain 
extent, because it is impossible for them to procure food of any kind while 
the deep snows cover the mountains. They find protection from the storms 
in the crevices of the ledges. 
“In the spring time, when they first come from their winter quarters, 
they are so poor that they are hardly able to walk. It is then that the 
bears and wolves make their feasts on them, and numbers of White Sheep 
are destroyed. 
“The lambing season is from May Ist until August Ist, and I have 
even found some very small lambs in September. The males and females 
are hardly ever found together during the summer months. The males 
generally inhabit the roughest and highest peaks, while the ewes and lambs 
keep along the high plateaus. 
“During the morning and evening, while the ewes are feeding, the 
lambs are always kept well in front of them. The old ewes take turns in 
watching and guarding, and often remain about fifty yards in the rear. 
They nearly always feed to windward, and if the slightest foreign scent 
is detected they immediately wheel about and make for the cliffs. 
“TI have tried for days to get a photograph of the lambs and their 
