226 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



tains close under the snow line for several miles up the 

 river. The wind was drawing slightly up the valley, and 

 stirred the game ahead of us as we went. Numerous 

 ewes and small rams jumped up and disappeared, but we 

 saw none better than those we had already shot. At 

 lunch time we had gone perhaps nine or ten miles from 

 the cabin and lunched at a point where the valley 

 broadened and turned to give an uninterrupted view of 

 the great glacier where the Killey River headed. In a 

 crevice of the rocky cliff we ate, protected from the 

 keen wind. 



The view from here was superb. Down in the broad 

 valley the river wound its tortuous way through the flat 

 bottom and just below us entered the gorge of the water- 

 fall which we had seen from the opposite side on our 

 first afternoon's walk from Steve's cabin. At this point 

 we saw two young rams cross through the water to our 

 side. High above them imder the snow line lay three 

 more which looked at the long distance, nearly two miles, 

 as if they might have good horns. Farther to the right, 

 somewhat down the river, a lone ram was feeding in one 

 of the steep pastures under a big patch of snow. He too 

 was worth investigating. Many others were in sight; a 

 large troop of ewes came to the sandy flat above the 

 waterfall and nibbled the grass on the farther river-bank. 

 Higher up on the hillside, and too distant for us to 

 attempt to reach them during the remainder of the day, 

 other flocks lay planted against the mountain, generally 

 below some patch of snow which fed a little rivulet of 

 water. 



As we lay in the cleft of the rock, smoking our pipes 

 and looking over the panorama from the brownish red 

 and green verdure below us to the dazzling white snowy 



