Mountain Game 147 



Of course it was not to be compared to the ascent 

 of towering, glacier-bearing peaks, such as those of 

 the Selkirks and Alaska, where climbers must be 

 roped to one another and carry ice axes. 



Once at the top we walked very cautiously, being 

 careful not to show ourselves against the sky-line, 

 and scanning the mountain sides through our glasses. 

 At last we made out three goats, grazing unconcern- 

 edly on a narrow, grassy terrace, which sloped 

 abruptly to the brink of a high precipice. They 

 were not very far off, and there was a little rock 

 spur above them which offered good cover for a 

 stalk ; but we had to crawl so slowly, partly to avoid 

 falling, and partly to avoid detaching loose rocks, 

 that it was nearly an hour before we got in a favor- 

 able position above them, and some seventy yards 

 off. The frost-disintegrated mountains in which 

 they live are always sending down showers of 

 detached stones, so that the goats are not very 

 sensitive to the noise; still, they sometimes pay 

 instantaneous heed to it, especially if the sound is 

 repeated. 



When I peeped over the little ridge of rock, shov- 

 ing my rifle carefully ahead of me, I found that the 

 goats had finished feeding and were preparing to 

 leave the slope. The old billy saw me at once, but 

 evidently could not quite make me out. Thereupon, 

 gazing intently at me, he rose gravely on his 

 haunches, sitting up almost in the attitude of a dog 



