IN THE FAR WEST. 351 



scampering in the direction of those concealed above, and 

 result in an opportunity for a few good shots, as they dash for 

 crags or the mountains without any apprehension of danger 

 from that direction. Should they be checked even, instead of 

 turning back, they would break to the right and left, and try 

 to reach the highest pinnacles, owing to a blind instinct they 

 have that all their danger lies in the regions beneath, which 

 they so scrupulously avoid. 



The best time for hunting the animal is the early morning 

 or the dusk of the evening, when it is out feeding in some 

 rocky vale, as it is then more readily seen, and the hunter is 

 enabled to approach it with greater facility by keeping to the 

 leeward, and in the shelter of crags, until an opportunity for a 

 shot is presented. It is very difficult to find during the heat 

 of the day, as it lies concealed amid dangerous ledges or gloomy 

 precipices, and any attempt to track it would lead to the 

 detection of the hunter before the hunted, for its hearing is 

 as acute as its nasal power. If pursued at all at this time, it 

 should be with the aid of keen-nosed terriers, as they are 

 sagacious enough to find any four-footed animal running wild, 

 and to chase it, too, whether it be bear, puma, goat, or 

 weasel. 



From many inquiries, and a limited experience, I am rather 

 inclined to think that where it is little hunted it shows no 

 great fear of man if he approaches it from the leeward, and 

 does not alarm it by rapid movements. To stalk it successfully 

 he must, therefore, move slowly and cautiously, halt frequently 

 if he thinks he is seen, make as little noise as possible, and use 

 every available cover presented by rock or shrub. 



My first introduction to this mountain sprite was in Wash- 

 ington Territory, and that taught me that the tales related by 

 hunters of the difficulty of killing it were little exaggerated. 



I joined a party of Indians that were moving into the eastern 

 division of the Territory, their chief having kindly consented 

 to let me accompany them, on the ground that I sympathized 

 with the creed which they had been taught by a self- 

 denying Christian missionary. 



Our route led us through those dense forests that cover an 



