THE MUSK SHEEP OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 285 



the fine velvety grasses that sparsely crop up in wet 

 localities. 



For animals so unwieldy in shape and appearance 

 they are wonderfully nimble, making always for the 

 roughest grounds when pursued, leaping with agility 

 from rock to rock, and scaling the faces of slopes so 

 perpendicular that the hunter, with hands and feet 

 brought into play, finds it almost impossible to follow. 

 Their hearing and sight are very acute ; at the same 

 time so suspicious and cautious are they that, although 

 always assembled in little parties of from ten to twenty, 

 sentinels are regularly told off for duty, which place 

 themselves in the most commanding positions, ready 

 to whistle the signal of alarm on the slightest suspicion 

 of danger, accompanied by the usual sheep-like stamp 

 of displeasure, which summons the herd to assist in 

 inspecting the supposed intruder before they shift their 

 feeding grounds for haunts that previous experience 

 has taught them are more secure. 



From the high latitudes in which they are found, 

 Captain Parry, the celebrated voyager, classes them 

 among the dwellers north of the Arctic circle ; and well 

 might he or others do so, for so well are they pro- 

 tected by nature from the inclement weather of the 

 inhospitable regions which they inhabit, that the most 

 severe snow and frost little interfere with the routine 



