THE SHEEP OF MOUNT SHELDON 273 



the sides with brush. In the morning I ascended the 

 smooth slopes of the mountain, which was of the type 

 that caribou prefer for their range. In two hours I was 

 on the crest, and after circling all around it, returned to 

 camp by noon. I had observed only a few old caribou 

 tracks, and an old, abandoned sheep-trail almost obliter- 

 ated by grass and weeds. 



It was clear that a few sheep had once been accus- 

 tomed to feed there. It was also clear to me that the 

 only sheep in that section of the country were on Mount 

 Sheldon, and even there the band was very small, as 

 indicated by the fact that the larger rams were with the 

 ewes. I had, however, learned the character of the sheep 

 in that part of the country, and that was the object of my 

 exploration of the Ross. Therefore, I decided to go back 

 to the Pelly as quickly as possible, and devote the re- 

 mainder of my time to examining the sheep on the moun- 

 tains bordering both sides of the river, between the mouth 

 of the Ross and that of the MacMillan River. In the 

 afternoon we carried all our material to the shore of the 

 lake and there passed the night. 



The Ross River country offers no good hunting, except 

 for moose, which near the lakes are as abundant as on 

 the MacMillan. But since the mountain area is so 

 limited that few draws are favorable for finding them, the 

 topography of the country, compared with that of the 

 MacMillan, makes it most inferior as a place for success- 

 ful moose hunting. I saw a few old bear diggings, de- 

 monstrating that grizzlies are there, but the lack of more 

 open country would be unfavorable for seeing them in the 



