ON THE SHEEP RANGES 35 



occurs in cornices below the crest, under the cliffs, and 

 in the hollows, gorges, and furrows. 



I walked along toward the west, carefully scanning 

 the country ahead through my field-glasses. Mosquitoes 

 swarmed as much as ever, even on the peaks. Soon a 

 heavy rain fell and it was cold. I crouched under a 

 rock, and in half an hour it ceased. Again I went for- 

 ward, now crossing a pasture to examine the slopes below, 

 then returning diagonally to the rim of the crest so that I 

 could see the country on both sides. 



A canon cutting the south slope was reached after 

 three o'clock, and well below, eight hundred yards dis- 

 tant on the other side, I saw twelve fairly large rams 

 feeding in a grassy place on the slope. Immediately 

 dropping low, I looked at them through the field-glasses. 

 At last, before me was the main object of my trip to 

 those northern wilds; beautiful they were, glistening 

 white in the sun notwithstanding a brownish stain, and 

 game in every motion. Most of them carried fair horns, 

 well spread, and all had black tails. They fed nervously 

 and kept constantly on the move, a few often running 

 with alertness, and every moment one or another would 

 throw up its head to look, either up or down. I re- 

 mained motionless, flat on the ground, among some rocks, 

 watching every movement. How to stalk them was a 

 puzzle. The canon was deep with almost perpendicular 

 sides and led up to the crest of the mountain before it 

 could be crossed. It was not possible to descend and 

 then stalk up in plain sight from below, and, besides, 

 they were gradually feeding upward. Their movements 



