THE BIG-HORN, OR MOL\\T.U.\ *HKEP. 399 



foes it looked thoroughly scared and crestfallen, and at- 

 tempted to flee from the threatening eyes and heads ; but. 

 before it could decide upon its line of retreat the flock 

 charged it from various directions in a body, and one burly 

 fellow, having horns on him like a gnarled oak, struck it in 

 the ribs with such terrific force that he doubled it up, and 

 sent it flying two or three yards away with a velocity that 

 must have scattered its wits, and caused it to deplore the 

 day that its love of mutton had induced it to try and feast 

 on lamb. 



Before any of the others could assail it in the flank it 

 managed to collect its sore and sadly dispersed faculties, 

 and, placing its tail between its legs, it got up and dusted 

 down that mountain-side at a higher rate of speed than 

 ever it did before; and right glad it seemed, when it found 

 itself beyond the reach of those powerful battering-rams. 

 I was so much interested in the scene, and laughed so 

 heartily at the discomfiture and terror of the runaway, that 

 the flock got beyond the reach of my shot-gun before I re- 

 covered myself sufficiently to think of attempting to shoot 

 one. Had I tried it, however, it is doubtful if I would 

 have been successful, as I did not expect to meet them in 

 that quarter, and they were so vigilant that it would have 

 been only by the merest chance that I could have approach- 

 ed them near enough to get a shot. Although these ani- 

 mals are exceedingly timid in the presence of man, and 

 wildly flee before him, yet they will not hesitate a moment 

 to face any ordinary foe, and to render a good account of 

 themselves in a combat. In their usual haunts they are, 

 however, free from nearly all enemies except man ; and 

 what few they have they can easily elude by their vigilance 

 and caution, and the inaccessible character of their country. 



The big-horn bears very little resemblance to the domes- 

 tic species; but it is almost a perfect copy, except in si/o, 

 of the Asiatic wild sheep (Ovis ammon), and it is also like 

 it in character. It is, in the first place, more like a deer in 

 outline and color of body than a sheep, its ovine face, taste 

 of flesh, and habits being the qualities that ally it to its do- 



