MOUNT RAINIER 



our absence. Their flesh, like the badger's, is ex- 

 tremely muscular and tough, and has a strong, dis- 

 agreeable, doggy odor. 



Towards the close of our repast, we observed the 

 Indian approaching with his head down, and walking 

 slowly and wearily as though tired by a long tramp. 

 He raised his head as he came nearer, and, seeing us 

 for the first time, stopped short, gazed long and fixedly, 

 and then slowly drew near, eying us closely the while, 

 as if to see whether we were real flesh and blood or dis- 

 embodied ghosts fresh from the evil demon of Ta- 

 khoma. He seemed both astonished and delighted to 

 find us safe back, and kept repeating that we were 

 strong men and had brave hearts : " Skookum tilicum, 

 skookum tumtum." He expected never to see us 

 again, he said, and had resolved to start the next morn- 

 ing for Olympia to report our destruction. 



The weather was still raw and cold. A dense cloud 

 overhung and shrouded the triple crown of Takhoma 

 and made us rejoice at our timely descent. The 

 scanty shelter afforded by the few balsam firs about our 

 camp had been destroyed by the fire, and the situation 

 was terribly exposed to the chilly and piercing wind that 

 blew from the great ice-fields. Van Trump, however, 

 was too badly hurt to think of moving that night. 

 Heating some large stones we placed them at our feet, 

 and closely wrapped in our blankets slept soundly upon 

 the open ground, although we awoke in the morning 

 benumbed and chilled. 



We found many fresh tracks and signs of the moun- 

 tain-sheep upon the snowfields, and hair and wool 

 rubbed off upon rocks, and places where they had lain 

 at night. The mountain-sheep of Takhoma is much 

 larger than the common goat, and is found only upon 

 the loftiest and most secluded peaks of the Cascade 

 Range. Even Sluiskin, a skillful hunter and accus- 

 tomed to the pursuit of this animal for years, failed to 

 kill one, notwithstanding he hunted assiduously during 



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