CAMP FIRES IN THE YUKON 93 



hundred yards of the rams, two which were seen to 

 possess immense heads. Dixon, looking at them 

 through the glasses, told the hunters those two 

 heads were " perfect from the base to the tip and 

 were close to the record for size." Both hunters 

 became nervous and missed the easy shots, while the 

 rams galloped over the range. 



Late in the afternoon they located a band of 

 thirty-two rams across the range and high up above 

 a glacier, and they began a hard climb to reach them 

 before dark. Dixon with his dog started to make 

 a wide circuit, in order to head off the rams in case 

 they should attempt to bolt to the right ; on his way 

 around the mountain he came upon six rams, which 

 the dog brought to bay on a five foot ledge which 

 the rams completely occupied. Every time the dog 

 would try to climb the ledge the rams, massed tightly 

 together with lowered heads, presented a solid front 

 of sharp horns to hurl the dog backwards, and when 

 the dog would attempt a flanking movement the rams 

 would quickly shift their front, always meeting the 

 attack with a perfect alignment of massed horns. 

 So formidable a defense is even effective against the 

 wolves that prey upon the sheep in the winter time, 

 when the sheep are found low down on the benches 

 and on the tundra. Once among the rocks a sheep 

 can usually outrun a wolf, but it sometimes happens 

 that a band of rams is brought to bay on a ledge, 

 and when these sharp horned monarchs of the crags 



