THE ROSE MOUNTAINS 279 



the north side of the range. There we constructed a 

 canvas shelter and made camp. Later, before we slept, 

 the moon shed its glory on the snow-covered mountains 

 enclosing us. 



September 14. Early the next morning I climbed one 

 of the smooth, dome-shaped mountains to the north, and 

 spent the whole day travelling over their summits. To 

 the north, I could see the whole country between the 

 Pelly, MacMillan, and Ross Rivers a country different 

 in character from any other draining to the Pelly. It has 

 more the character of a vast, uneven plateau eroded into 

 wide, basin-shaped valleys, with high, dome-like moun- 

 tains grouped without any regular trend. Most of them 

 rise above timber, some are very massive, others ex- 

 tremely subdued. They are, first of all, caribou ranges, 

 and the extensive willow growth marks a fine country 

 for moose. It is quite probable that here and there on 

 the summits small bands of sheep may range, but it is 

 also doubtful if they wander far from the Rose Moun- 

 tains. 



While scanning the valleys beyond, I saw smoke 

 curling up one of the slopes far to the north-east. It 

 undoubtedly came from a camp of the Pelly Indians who 

 were hunting moose and caribou. There were no sheep 

 tracks in those smooth mountains, but caribou tracks 

 were everywhere, none of them very fresh. Ground- 

 squirrels were still out, and great flocks of ptarmigan 

 were flying about the slopes. Late in the afternoon, as I 

 was looking through my field-glasses over on the Rose 

 Mountains, sixteen or seventeen sheep appeared, but they 



