American Big-Game Hunting 
one clean through from the shoulder—the 
goat had faced me when I fired first—to the 
ham, where the lead was flat against the bone. 
This goat was the handsomest we had, smaller 
than the other males, but with horns of a better 
shape, and with hair and beard very rich and 
white. Curiously enough, his lower jaw be- 
tween the two front teeth had been broken 
a long time ago, probably from some fall. 
Yet this accident did not seem to have inter- 
fered with his feeding, for he was in excellent 
plump condition. 
This completely satisfied me, and I willingly 
decided to molest no more goats. I set neither 
value nor respect on numerical slaughter. 
One cannot expect Englishmen to care 
whether American big game is exterminated 
or not; that Americans should not care is a 
disgrace. The pervading spirit of the far 
West as to game, as to timber, as to everything 
that a true American should feel it his right 
to use and his duty to preserve for those com- 
ing after, is—‘‘ What do I care, so long as it 
lasts my time?” 
There remain a few observations to make, 
and then I have said the little that I know about 
58 
