334 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



started some of them looked disappointed, but they said 

 nothing 1 . One of the party killed a full-grown ram by 

 stealing upon him, but before delivering 1 up the ghost he 

 tumbled into a chasm, and that fall broke the horns, and 

 mashed the body so much that the skin presented a sorry 

 appearance. I took the measurements of the animal, but 

 having lost my note-book I cannot now recall them. I 

 ate some of its flesh during the evening, but I could not 

 consider it to possess high gastronomic qualities, it being 

 rather dry, and goaty in flavour. 



The most successful hunt among the goats that I ever 

 enjoyed was in Montana. During one of my excursions in 

 that fine game region I was fortunate enough to meet a 

 pioneer, who, in the early days of the country, before it was 

 overrun with gold-seekers, procured his meat by hunting, and 

 in his company I spent two days in one of the mountain 

 chains that trend to the north and west from the town of Deer 

 Lodge. 



Our only companions, besides the pack animals that carried 

 our camp equipage, were two rough-coated terriers that were 

 trained specially for driving goats and mountain sheep from 

 retreats where the hunter could not well follow them. The 

 first morning after our arrival at the scene of operations we 

 were awake before daylight, and ere the earliest rays of the 

 sun topped the highest pinnacles we were clambering amid 

 crags that reduced us to the most dwarfish human dimensions. 



Keeping well to the lee of a spot which the animals were 

 generally known to frequent, we struggled upward for a 

 couple of hours, but not a sound, except our heavy breathing, 

 escaped us. We kept our eyes steadily engaged, however, if 

 we did not our tongues, in order that the expedition should 

 not prove barren of results through any want of vigilance on 

 our part. 



A short time after daylight we reached a small plateau that 

 enabled us to survey the horizon on every side, and here I 

 brought my glass to bear, but no goats loomed within its 

 range. " There must be some on 'em here though/'' said my 

 companion, "for I never yet knowed this place to fail me; so 



