WATER BORDERS 



white bells swing over matted, mossy foli- 

 age. On Oppapago, which is also called 

 Sheep Mountain, one finds not far from the 

 beds of cassiope the ice-worn, stony hollows 

 where the bighorns cradle their young. 

 These are above the wolf's quest and the 

 eagle's wont, and though the heather beds 

 are softer, they are neither so dry nor so 

 warm, and here only the stars go by. No 

 other animal of any pretensions makes a 

 habitat of the alpine regions. Now and 

 then one gets a hint of some small, brown 

 creature, rat or mouse kind, that slips 

 secretly among the rocks ; no others adapt 

 themselves to desertness of aridity or alti- 

 tude so readily as these ground inhabiting, 

 graminivorous species. If there is an open 

 stream the trout go up the lake as far as 

 the water breeds food for them, but the 

 ousel goes farthest, for pure love of it. 



2IO 



