THE FINAL HUNT FOR RAMS 235 



On the snow I saw a three-year-old ram, which soon left 

 it, and was joined by two others of the same age. It was 

 interesting to observe how extremely conspicuous a sheep 

 of that dark color was when on the snow. They walked 

 upward in single file along the sky-line to the crest, when 

 the sun magnified their horns to the ibex transformation. 

 They were apparently very suspicious and as they pro- 

 ceeded, kept looking down. When I saw another small 

 ram appear above the snow-bank and lie down, I con- 

 cluded that there were more rams below on the other 

 side. Not being able to pass around the precipitous sides 

 of two peaks near me, I had to climb over them and this 

 required some effort and crag work. Proceeding, I was 

 in plain sight of the ram which stood above the snow, 

 and my progress, between pauses to watch him or to 

 observe others that might appear near him, was, there- 

 fore, slow and careful. The other two rams soon ap- 

 peared on the top of the mountain and lay down facing 

 me. They must have seen me, for several times I saw 

 them rise and look suspiciously in my direction, although 

 they were fifteen hundred feet above me and more than 

 a mile distant. At length I reached the foot of the inter- 

 vening mountain, and, thoroughly concealed, slowly made 

 the ascent. Reaching the apex I looked over. Below, 

 on the other side, was a small circular basin of broken 

 rock alternating with grassy areas, almost completely 

 enclosed by surrounding rock walls. In the bottom was 

 a gleaming crystal lakelet, strongly reflecting the peaks. 

 To my right, between the two mountains, was a deep 

 gorge. 



