208 GAME. 



I have seen mountain sheep run up the face of a rock 

 slightly inclined it is true, but apparently offering not the 

 slightest foothold for man or beast for a distance of 

 nearly thirty feet. I have known them go down an 

 apparently sheer precipice, at least an equal distance, and 

 over which it would seem that only a rock squirrel might 

 pass unharmed. In these cases a careful examination has 

 shown me little crevices and narrow ledges furnishing 

 foothold sufficient for such a climber, and by springing 

 from one to the other of which he undoubtedly made the 

 descent. 



Of their domestic habits scarcely anything is positively 

 known, though, from what I have seen of the animals, I 

 judge that in these they are very similar to sheep. The 

 lambs begin to be seen in June, generally stowed away 

 on some shelf of rock inaccessible to man or dangerous 

 animal. 



The little fellow takes to climbing very naturally, and 

 soon follows its dam and the herd wherever they please 

 to journey. 



What becomes of the mountain sheep when man 

 invades his stronghold it is impossible to say. Hundreds 

 may be in a locality. Man appears : a few, possibly ten, 

 are killed ; the others disappear, and leave no sign. 



From about the middle of August until the 1st of 

 November the flesh of the mountain sheep is the most 

 delicious bonne bouclie that ever tickled the palate of 

 the gourmand. It is impossible to describe it ; but if one 

 can imagine a saddle of most delicious ' Southdown,' 

 flavoured with the richest and most gamy juices of the 

 black-tail, he will form some idea of the treat in store for 

 him when he shall sit down to a feast of mountain sheep 

 in season and properly cooked. Except when ' in season,' 

 the mountain sheep is thin, tough, and the poorest food 

 that the plains furnish to man. 



