THE WILD GOAT. 163 



snow. Numerous glaciers feed the cascades and water- 

 courses which tumble down from ledge after ledge, to lose 

 themselves in the boundless wastes of the American 

 Sahara. 



Bears abound in the ravines of these mountains ; and 

 grouse are met with at every step under the cover of the 

 cotton-trees, the cedars, and dwarf oaks, which grow 

 between every fissure of the rocks. The racoons, the 

 cougars, and the cayeutes dispute with each other for 

 the countless prey ; the geese, the turkeys, the quails, the 

 cranes, and even the ostriches for there are ostriches in 

 the United States* swarm throughout the territory, to 

 the great delight of the hunter and the trapper. 



But the most elegant quadruped, innumerable herds of 

 whom graze in freedom on the turfed peaks of the Ameri- 

 can Switzerland, is, undoubtedly, the wild goat, called 

 by the Shoshone and Creek Indians Apertachoekoos, and 

 by the naturalists Sprong-horn. 



The pioneers who formed part of Lewis and Clarke's 

 expedition, during their journey across the prairies be- 

 tween the chain of the Masserne and that of the Rocky 

 Mountains, were the first to describe this graceful animal. 

 Like the chamois and the isards, the American wild goats 

 are so timid and mistrustful, that they never rest except 

 on the summits of the precipices and the rocky ridges, 

 whence they can overlook all the approaches to their 

 lofty asylums. So keen is their sight, so subtle their 

 faculty of smell, that it is always very difficult to ap- 

 proach them within gunshot range. No sooner do they 



* The American ostrich averages five feet in height, and four feet and a half 

 in length, from the stomach to the extremity of the tail. Their beak mea- 

 sures five inches, and is very pointed. 



