STALKING CARRTBOO. 49 



fully punished by a tup, and the remembrances of the 

 event had not yet been forgotten. A mountain ram is 

 a small beast compared to my present pursuer, and he 

 was able to do enough mischief. The ground was very 

 roughly sprinkled with boulders, some of great size, 

 and for the most inaccessible of those I made the best 

 speed I could muster, and only succeeded in gaining a 

 place of safety when the ewe's., horns were within a foot 

 or two of my hurdies. For over an hour she kept 

 watch on me ; and, worse than all, when I got back to 

 my fish, some vermin or other had carried all the best 

 ones off, and it was getting too late to catch a new mess. 

 When at the fort the Indians soon explained the reasons 

 of this unprovoked attack, and proved the correctness 

 of their assertion by shooting the mother next morn- 

 ing and bringing the lamb home, which we were unable 

 to keep alive for over three days, much to the regret 

 of all." 



The second adventure is a repetition of the inex- 

 cusable folly of not immediately loading your gun be- 

 fore approaching wounded game. " In stalking some 

 barren carriboo, eight musk sheep crossed directly 

 between me and the deer. I was well hid at the time, 

 so that they came unsuspiciously within thirty yards. 

 In a moment I gave them both barrels. To the first 

 shot an old buck dropped, and rolled into a ravine ; 

 the second barrel crippled a three-quarter grown sheep 

 so badly that I knew less than a mile would lay her up. 

 In my hurry to secure the old one, without loading I 

 hurried to the ravine. There he was, as I thought, in 

 the last struggle. Down I jumped into the hollow, 

 which was about ten feet deep ; but no sooner did he 

 see me than up he got, and, head down, charged. I 



