406 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



ing suddenly upon several that were grazing among huge 

 bowlders ; and, much to my satisfaction, as I wished to se- 

 cure the heads of both sexes, I heard it was a female about 

 two years old. By cutting two stout branches off a pine- 

 tree, we made a litter, and placing the ram upon it, carried 

 him to where the ewe was concealed. Both were then de- 

 spoiled of the viscera, and a long pole was placed under 

 their hind -legs, which were tied, and they were pushed 

 high up against a tree, to prevent them from being de- 

 voured by any prowling quadrupeds. 



Continuing our course upward, and still against the 

 wind, we scrambled and stumbled about for about an hour, 

 and finally reached a small plateau which gave us a com- 

 manding view over a large area of the mountains. Sweep- 

 ing it in every direction with a glass, I could see no traces 

 of sheep there ; but not so my companion, for he called my 

 attention to some irregular specks that loomed against the 

 horizon far to the north. After watching them carefully 

 for several minutes, I discovered they were groups of sheep 

 that were migrating to pastures new; so we made prepa- 

 rations to intercept them. Running toward them with all 

 possible haste, we got so near in less than an hour that 

 we commenced stalking them. Moving toward the sum- 

 mit, we gained a position a little above them at a dis- 

 tance of perhaps two hundred yards, before our haste 

 caused us to be detected by a vigilant old ram, whose 

 eyes seemed to be ubiquitous; for we were often com- 

 pelled to throw ourselves flat on the sharp stones to avoid 

 his piercing gaze, when we supposed he was interested in 

 his food. 



As soon as he announced our presence by a hissing 

 snort, the animals, which were widely scattered, ran to- 

 gether in a bunch ; but before they decided upon moving, 

 we fired at them four times in rapid succession, and, when 

 the smoke cleared away, we saw two young rams and a 

 lambkin on the ground ; but we inferred that we had 

 wounded others, as we found drops of blood on their line 

 of flight. Being too well satisfied with our good-luck to 



