410 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



more highly prized than many won with ease. It is no 

 easy matter at any time to bag a big-horn, unless circum- 

 stances are unusually favorable; but I never saw one which 

 gave me as much trouble to capture as this one, so it re- 

 mains indelibly marked in my memory. 



When I reached ray companion I found he had cached 

 all the animals, as he did not know when I would return, 

 and he feared to leave them to the mercies of bears or 

 wolves. As we did not expect to be able to find any more 

 sheep until evening, when they would come out to graze, 

 we decided upon returning home; as we had been more 

 successful than the most sanguine could have anticipated, 

 and we cared more for sport than the pot. It is always 

 a difficult matter to make a big bag of sheep, owing to 

 their inaccessible haunts, and their timidity and vigilance, 

 especially in regions where they are hunted much ; so we 

 were not a little pleased with our good-fortune. We at- 

 tributed it, however, to the abundance of the animals, the 

 excellence of the ground for stalking them, and the fact 

 that they were not hunted much, rather than to any excel- 

 lence on our own part ; for I have known some of the best 

 hunters to tramp hard all day and not kill one, although 

 numbers might be roaming over the snow- fields or the 

 rocky crests. 



We dined that evening off wild-mutton cutlets; but ex- 

 cepting that they had a somewhat gamey flavor, and were 

 by no means succulent, they tasted like flesh of the do- 

 mestic species. In hunting over that region afterward we 

 used mongrel dogs, and found them excellent adjuncts in 

 the chase ; as they would not only run, but attack, the big- 

 horns, or hold them at bay until we got within shooting 

 range. They were not strong enough to kill the animals 

 alone, and they had a wholesome fear of the head appen- 

 dages, but they were very useful in more ways than one. 

 I should fancy that trained dogs would be found of great 

 advantage in sheep-hunting, but my experience is not ex- 

 tensive enough to form an opinion on the matter. 



One of the most interesting and successful excursions 



