226 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



ment. But I made an interesting discovery. The other 

 ram was three or four years old and his horns curving 

 behind did not curl upward. When he reached the sky- 

 line and came under a certain angle with the sun, I 

 beheld the famous "ibex," often reported to have been 

 seen on the far northern summits of Alaska. The horns 

 appeared to be magnified to a long sweep of three or 

 four feet, curving behind exactly like those of an ibex. 

 So complete was the deception, that had I not been cer- 

 tain of the animal, I would have been deluded into the 

 belief that an ibex stood before me. I have many times 

 witnessed similar delusions and have thus learned to give 

 more credit to the good faith of those who report having 

 seen an ibex. Also, I know that they have not been so 

 fortunate as to have had experiences similar to my own. 



It was just a year, lacking one day, since a veteran 

 ram had been stretched out before me on a high moun- 

 tain in the Ogilvie range at the head of Coal Creek, a 

 veteran ram, the prize of many days of tramping over the 

 mountains. Now, stretched before me, was another vet- 

 eran ram, the prize of my trip among the Pelly ranges. 



The dead ram was a hundred and fifty yards distant, 

 and I was interested to test the wind by throwing up 

 pieces of paper which were blown directly toward him, 

 near enough to prove that no eddying of the air currents 

 had deflected my scent. Going forward when the papers 

 fell, I tossed up others and they were carried in the same 

 direction. It was clear that my scent had not frightened 

 these rams. I went over to the dead ram and found 

 him lighter in color than the typical Stone sheep, and 



