The JVild Sheep of the Sierra. 297 



diverse like wind-driven chaff, will, in some measure, be able to appre- 

 ciate the self-reliance and strength and noble individuality of nature's 

 sheep. 



Like the Alp-climbing ibex of Europe, our mountaineer is said to 

 plunge headlong down the faces of sheer precipices and alight on his 

 big horns. I know only two hunters who claim to have actually wit- 

 nessed this feat. I never was so fortunate. They describe the act 

 as a diving head-foremost. The horns are so large at the base that 

 they cover all the upper portion of the head down nearly to a level 

 with the eyes, and the skull is exceedingly strong. I struck an old, 

 bleached specimen on Mount Ritter a dozen blows with my ice-axe 

 without breaking it. Such skulls would not fracture very readily by 

 the wildest rock-diving, but other bones could hardly be expected to 

 hold together in such a performance ; and the mechanical difficulties 

 in the way of controlling their movements, after striking upon an 

 irregular surface, are, in themselves, sufficient to show this bowlder- 

 like method of progression to be impossible, even in the absence of all 

 other evidence on the subject ; moreover, the ewes follow wherever 

 the rams may lead, and their horns are mere spikes. I have found 

 many pairs of horns considerably battered — a result, most likely, of 

 fighting, though, when a great leap is made, they may possibly seek 

 to lighten the shock by striking their heads against anything that 

 may chance to be favorably situated for the purpose, just as men 

 mountaineers do with their hands. I have been interested in the 

 question, after witnessing the performances of the San Joaquin band 

 upon the glaciated rocks at the foot of the falls, and as soon as I 

 procured specimens and examined their feet, all the mystery disap- 

 peared. The secret, considered in connection with exceptionally 

 strong muscles, is simply this : the wide posterior portion of the 

 bottom of the foot, instead of wearing down and becoming flat and 

 hard, like the feet of tame sheep and horses, bulges out in a soft, 

 rubber-like pad or cushion, which not only grips and holds well on 

 smooth rocks, but fits in small cavities, and down upon or against 

 slight protuberances. Even the hardest portions of the edge of the 

 hoof are comparatively soft and elastic ; furthermore, the toes admit of 

 an extraordinary amount of both lateral and vertical motion, allowing 

 the foot to accommodate itself still more perfectly to the irregularities 

 of rock surfaces, and at the same time increasing the gripping power. 



