CHAPTER XYI. 



BEFORE going to bed, Seymour cautioned 

 me through, his interpreter, the faithful 

 John, against getting out too early 

 in the morning. He said the goats 

 did not commence to move 

 around until nine or ten o'clock, 

 and if we started out to hunt 

 before that time we were liable to 

 pass them asleep in their beds. 

 But I read the hypocrite 1 s meaning between 

 his words; he is a lazy loafer and loves to li-> and 

 snooze in the morning. It was his own comfort, 

 more than our success in hunting, that he was con- 

 cerned about. Goats, as well as all other species of 

 large game, are on foot at daylight, whether they 

 have been out all night or not, and from that time 

 until an hour after sunrise, and again just before dark 

 in the evening, are the most favorable times to hunt. 

 The game is intent on feeding at these times and is 

 not so wary as at other times. I told Seymour we 

 would get up at four o'clock, get breakfast, and be 

 ready to move at daylight. And so we did. 



The night had been clear and cold; ice had formed 

 around the margin of the lake, and a hoar frost a 

 quarter of an inch deep covered the ground, the logs, 

 and rocks that were not sheltered by trees. Ski-ik- 

 kul or Willey's Lake, as it is termed by the whites, 



(125) 



