n6 CAMP-FIRES IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 



but he must also avoid getting into a cul-de-sac from 

 which he cannot escape. 



All these requirements make a goat think. He must 

 look ahead, and plan out his line of retreat, or come to 

 grief. A deer has the quick dash and elan of a cavalry- 

 man; but the goat figures things out carefully, on scien- 

 tific principles, like a general of artillery. 



Some hunters of wild goats have called the goat a 

 stupid animal, because he does not quickly comprehend 

 the deadlines's of man. But is that proof that he really 

 is stupid? Let us see. 



No mountain hunter will call the mountain sheep a 

 stupid animal. In regions wherein the sheep have been 

 shot at, and have learned that a " bang " means a rifle, 

 and a rifle means a hunter, the big-horn is a very alert 

 and wary animal. In such regions the successful chase 

 of the mountain sheep demands the qualities that make 

 up a first-class sportsman, endurance, judgment, and 

 skill with the rifle. But how is it in countries wherein 

 the wild sheep have not been hunted by man, and know 

 nothing of white hunters and fire-arms? Ask Mr. Charles 

 Sheldon, Mr. Carl Rungius, Mr. James H. Kidder and 

 Mr. Thomas D. Leonard about the sheep which they 

 found so abundant in the Kenai Peninsula, in the Yukon 

 Territory and on the Stickine River. They will tell you 

 that the sheep which they hunted did not know the 

 meaning of a rifle-shot; that they only partially realized 

 the deadliness of man; that when a flock was fired at, 

 the sheep threw up their heads, and gazed and hesi- 

 tated, until often five shots could be fired at a bunch 



