THE LION PLAYS SOFT PEDAL 107 



they evidently were not afraid of the lion. Ex- 

 cept in drifts the snow was not more than a 

 foot deep. When the snow is deep and crusted 

 so that sheep break through and the lion does 

 not, then he slays and slays. The lion is not 

 heavy, rarely more than one hundred pounds, 

 is agile and powerful. His feet are large and 

 soft and he can readily get over muddy or snowy 

 places where heavier animals like deer and sheep 

 with small, hard feet, have difficulty. 



After passing the sheep the lion went on over 

 the top as though planning to go down the 

 other slope. But he faced about and came 

 back along his track for a quarter of a mile. 

 Then turning off to the right he cautiously made 

 his way from crag to rock and came close to the 

 sheep passed on the summit. Then a detour of 

 half a mile and he climbed on a cliff behind them. 

 From this he could watch them without being 

 scented. Here he appears to have remained 

 for hours. But the sheep did not go near any 

 point from which he could leap upon them. 



He left them and started down the mountain, 

 heading eastward for the upper end of a gulch 

 about three miles distant. I climbed about for 

 a little while then again followed his tracks. 

 The snow was partly drifted, and a number of 

 old drifts, made up of several snowfalls, were 

 large and deep. On the way down he came upon 



