MOUNTAIN-SHEEP. 351 



muscles of the forearm were so much developed that the men 

 always spoke of it afterwards as the prize6ghter. 



One day the Colonel and I started for a long ride into the 

 mountains to explore some very likely-looking ground for elk 

 and bears, passing through some lovely country, but seeing 

 nothing but black- and white-tailed deer till we reached a high 

 point, when we got our glasses and soon made out some 

 mountain-sheep above us, and some of them seemed to have 

 fine heads. It necessitated a long climb, so the Colonel agreed 

 to hold the horses while I went after the sheep. I had to 

 descend some way, as there was no cover above us, and make 

 a long detour, ascending again when I was round the end of 

 the mountain, fallen timber making the walking very slow and 

 tiring. I had got up higher than where the sheep were, when 

 I saw two Indians going along the mountain-side above me on 

 foot, and as there was no way of telling to what tribe they 

 belonged, I lay down in the brush for fully an hour to let them 

 get well away, when I continued my stalk, and on turning the 

 point of the mountain again I saw that the sheep had moved 

 and were coming my way, so I got behind a large tree and 

 waited about twenty minutes, by which time they were only 

 about a hundred and twenty yards from me. All I could see 

 were sheep or young rams, so I let them enter a thicket, where 

 they lay down, and my patience was nearly exhausted when 

 two fine rams came up at full speed, giving me a snap shot, 

 when I hit the hinder one, and had a run of about two miles 

 over awful rocks before I could get in a second shot and finish 

 him. The horns were a very perfect pair, but not so large as 

 I had fancied, being only thirty-five inches long and eleven 

 inches round the thickest part. 



