222 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



huge boulders, now scaling little cliffs, again toiling on 

 over the loose, broken rock; but at last I was near the 

 crest, where a small spur jutted out. I was on a level 

 with the rams, less than a third of a mile away, and a 

 strong wind blew directly toward them. Going below 

 the ridge of the spur, I looked over and saw the two large 

 ones feeding in the same place and the other lying down, 

 his head stretched out on the ground like that of a dog. 

 After looking through my field-glasses, my eagerness be- 

 came intense, for the dark ram had magnificent horns, 

 appearing black and large. His companion also had 

 fine horns, but those of the other were smaller. Inter- 

 vening ridges jutting out from the spur made it impos- 

 sible to form from my position any plan of approach- 

 ing within shot. Dropping back below the sky-line, I 

 climbed to the crest and slowly advanced, taking great 

 care to observe as much of the area on the other side as 

 possible, so that other rams which might be feeding there 

 would not see me and give the alarm. Keeping a sharp 

 lookout on all sides, I gradually came near enough to be 

 convinced that no other rams were about and that the 

 only remaining problem was to find a method of ap- 

 proaching close enough for a reasonable shot. Taking 

 advantage of another favorable projecting ridge, I crept 

 forward and looked over. All were still feeding and the 

 heavy, wrinkled horns of the dark ram, then seen plainly, 

 made me realize more fully the prize I was stalking. 

 After another slow advance along the crest, I went out 

 some distance on the roof of a ridge, broken on one side 

 by a precipice, and looked once more. I had to take 



