i i 8 Sport and Life. 



the fate of the bison instead of being to-day in many places more 

 numerous than it was a generation ago, when the Coast Indians 

 pursued it with zeal for the sake of its fleece, of which they made 

 their blankets. According to my experience the Haplocerus is by 

 no means such a stupid animal, and to see it defend itself against 

 enemies- such as dogs, bears, or wolves, to the attacks of which 

 latter it is ever exposed, betrays anything but stupidity. What 

 makes it appear stupid is its ingrained curiosity that causes it 

 to stand gazing at any unwonted sight, such as a man. A dog, 

 a bear, or a wolf, it does not waste time looking at, but betakes 

 itself off, or seeks speedily a place of vantage where it can defend 

 itself against enemies w r ith which it knows perfectly well how to 

 deal. The Flathead and Stonie Indians, who used to do a lot 

 of goat hunting, have repeatedly told me that in places where 

 goats are often hunted they become as difficult of approach as 

 bighorn, which, if true, amply corroborates my impression. 



A much more correct description of the country frequented by 

 the Haplocerus is given by another British Columbian, Mr. John 

 Fannin, curator of the Provincial Museum in Victoria. This writer 

 on our subject says that it is abundant "along the rugged peaks of 

 the Coast Range." "Here," he says, "amidst nature's wildest 

 scenes of storm-swept beetling crags and snowy peaks, where the 

 silence is seldom broken even by the rush of mountain torrents or 

 the crashing of the treacherous avalanche ; here, far removed from 

 the trail of the ordinary hunter, the mountain goat enjoys freedom 

 of action, unmolested by the persecution of man, to a much greater 

 extent than is allotted to any other animal in the mountains, and it 

 may be safe to say that it will exist when all other animals of the 

 forest shall have been 'exterminated or driven beyond our 

 boundaries." * 



According to the same writer, the Haplocerus inhabiting the 

 rugged mountains adjacent to salt water along the countless inlets 

 of the British Columbian coast descend to lower regions in January 



* " \Yestern Recreation," April, 1897. 



