io8 The Wilderitess Hunter. 



wards in huge cliffs, stern and barren ; from far below rose 

 the strangled roaring of the torrent, as the foaming masses 

 of ereen and white water churned round the boulders in 

 the stream bed. Except this humming of the wild water, 

 and the soughing of the pines, there was no sound. We 

 were sitting on a kind of jutting promontory of rock so 

 that we could scan the cliffs far and near. First I took 

 the glasses and scrutinized the ground almost rod by rod, 

 for nearly half an hour ; then my companion took them 

 in turn. It is very hard to make out game, especially 

 when lying down, and still ; and it is curious to notice 

 how, after fruitlessly scanning a country through the 

 glasses for a considerable period, a herd of animals will 

 suddenly appear in the field of vision as if by magic. In 

 this case, while my companion held the glasses for the 

 second time, a slight motion caught his eye ; and looking 

 attentively he made out, five or six hundred yards distant, 

 a mountain ram lying among some loose rocks and small 

 bushes at the head of a little grassy cove or nook, in a 

 shallow break between two walls of the cliff. So well did 

 the bluish gray of its body harmonize in tint with the 

 rocks and shrubbery that it was some time before I could 

 see it, even when pointed out to me. 



The wind was favorable, and we at once drew back and 

 began a cautious stalk. It was impossible, owing to the 

 nature of the cliffs above and below the bighorn's resting- 

 place, to get a shot save by creeping along nearly on a 

 level with him. Accordingly we worked our way down 

 through a big cleft in the rocks, being forced to go very 

 slowly and carefully lest we should start a loose stone ; 



