310 BIG GAME FIELDS 



therefore a very good day to remain about camp. 

 Attending to scalps, cleaning guns, drying out 

 I don't know how many pairs of socks, taking 

 the .22 for an hour in the afternoon and bring- 

 ing a half-dozen fat ptarmigan back for supper 

 filled in the day very nicely. The snow changed 

 to sleet, then to a drenching drizzle that lasted 

 throughout the night and had quite cleared off 

 the snow down in the timber by morning. 



Two days later, with the train, brought us to 

 what we chose to call Goat Camp. This singular 

 animal which makes its home in the giant, rocky 

 peaks, is the most daring of all mountain climb- 

 ers, fearless, sure-footed, and delighting in scal- 

 ing great heights, taking perilous leaps across the 

 chasms. His coat is white, soft and fluffy, while 

 its color has the effect of magnifying his size, 

 which is usually 35 to 40 inches at the shoulder. 

 When full grown, he will weigh from 200 to 250 

 pounds. He has practically no enemies save man 

 and eagles. When danger threatens he climbs 

 up or down the steepest precipices he can find 

 and there is no wild creature without wings that 

 can follow him. 



Everything spelled goat on this violet-tinted 

 morning, as we trod along a faint game trail. 

 Pinnacle after pinnacle, through the thin mist, 



