3 oz THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



are smooth and unbroken. Sheep are most abundant in 

 those regions where the mountains are continuous and 

 connected. Hence they occur in greatest numbers on the 

 ranges, including their direct lateral connections, east of 

 the Alaska Coast Range near the heads of the Slims, 

 Donjek, and White Rivers. Next they are most abun- 

 dant on the Pelly Mountains (including the Glenlyons), 

 and those parts of the Ogilvies not hunted to supply meat 

 for Dawson and miners in the same vicinity. Elsewhere 

 in the Territory the high mountains are complex groups, 

 rather than continuous ranges, and the number of sheep 

 inhabiting regions of this character is comparatively more 

 limited. 



The regions where sheep exist are divided into "sheep 

 ranges," each of which is very limited (only a few miles) 

 in area, and occupied by a group of sheep which pass 

 their lives on the same range, precisely as do cattle in the 

 unfenced portions of the West. Except for some mingling 

 at the borders between neighboring groups, each colony 

 of sheep keeps to its own range. The sheep cling so tena- 

 ciously to their ranges, that a destructive enemy, like 

 man, usually exterminates them before they will leave. If 

 driven off temporarily, most of them soon return. It is 

 a mistake to think that sheep are driven from one region 

 to another. Aggressive hunting kills off most of the 

 group, and only a very small proportion migrate to other 

 ranges. This is particularly true in regions where the 

 mountain ranges are not continuous. But when the num- 

 ber of sheep on a range increases and crowds the food 

 supply, a gradual overflow to other regions takes place, 



