80 CAMP-FIRES IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 



ing; for a rolling man gathers no moss. A man bowling 

 helplessly down a mountain-side at an angle of 30 de- 

 grees quickly acquires a momentum which spells death. 

 Often have I looked down a horribly steep stretch, and 

 tried to imagine what I would feel, and think, were I 

 to overbalance backward, and go bounding down. A 

 few hours later we saw a goat carcass take a fright- 

 ful roll down a slope not nearly so steep as where we 

 climbed up, and several times it leaped six feet into 

 the air. 



To keep out of the sight of the goats it was necessary 

 for us to bear well toward our left; and this brought us 

 close to the edge of the precipice, where the mountain- 

 side was chopped off. In view of the loose stones under 

 foot, I felt like edging more to the right; for the twin 

 chances of a roll down and a fall over began to abrade 

 my nerves. Mr. Phillips and Charlie climbed along so 

 close to the drop that I found myself wondering which 

 of them would be the first to slip and go over. 



" Keep well over this way, Director, or the goats may 

 wind you! " said Charlie, anxiously. 



"That's all right, Charlie; he's winded now!" said 

 John. 



I said we would rest on that; and before I knew the 

 danger, Mr. Phillips had taken a picture of me, resting, 

 and smiling a most idiotic smile. 



At last we reached the pinnacle which we had se- 

 lected when we first sighted our game. As nearly as we 

 could estimate, afterward, by figuring up known eleva- 

 tions, we were at a height of about nine thousand feet, 



