American Big-Game Hunting 



fell from the mist, and the banks of clouds were 

 still driving across the higher peaks, but dur- 

 ing the day the sun slowly got the better of 

 them. Again we saw a solitary goat, this 

 time far below down the ridge we had chosen. 

 Like the sheep, these animals watch the val- 

 ley. There is no use in attempting to hunt 

 them from there. Their eyes are watchful 

 and keen, and the chances are that if you are 

 working up from below and see a goat on the 

 hill, he will have been looking at you for some 

 time. Once he is alarmed, ten minutes will 

 be enough for him to put a good many hours 

 of climbing between himself and you. His 

 favorite trick is to remain stock-still, watch- 

 ing you till you pass out of his sight behind 

 something, and then he makes off so ener- 

 getically that when you see him next he will 

 be on some totally new mountain. But his 

 intelligence does not seem to grasp more 

 than the danger from below. While he is 

 steadfastly on the alert against this, it ap- 

 parently does not occur to him that anything 

 can come down upon him. Consequently 

 from above you may get very near before you 

 are noticed. The chief difficulty is the noise 



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