IN THE FAR WEST. 355 



ing up steep ascents or picking our way through cavernous 

 precipices, whose gloomy walls recalled most forcibly the 

 plutonic regions. 



By five o'clock we had reached an altitude of four thou- 

 sand feet, according to the aneroid ; and there the principal 

 guide informed us we were to remain while he went in 

 search of " signs/' He returned in about half an hour, and 

 stated that he had discovered a flock of a dozen or more a 

 furlong above us, but that we should be compelled to make a 

 wide detour to get to their lee, in order to approach them un- 

 detected. Our hearts beat wildly at this piece of good news* 

 at least mine did; so we examined our rifles carefully and saw 

 that they were perfectly clean and properly loaded. I was 

 armed with a Winchester rifle, which carried several bullets in 

 the magazine, and I was resolved to shoot them all at one 

 animal rather than permit it to escape. At the command we 

 moved forward, and after an hour's severe struggling ap- 

 proached the flock to within three hundred yards, under 

 shelter of some gigantic boulders of basalt, without being 

 discovered. 



To shoot from that distance would be risking too much, 

 yet we could get no closer without revealing ourselves to the 

 sentinels, which lifted their heads every few moments to survey 

 the landscape. As they were feeding toward us we concluded to 

 wait their nearer approach ; but the minutes dragged heavily, 

 and each moment seemed a torture. After waiting patiently 

 for about half an hour, though it seemed treble that time, four 

 sheep and three rams advanced about a hundred yards further, 

 and as our patience was becoming unbearable, the guide gave 

 us permission to fire. This was a joyous moment, and we re- 

 solved to profit by it. Each selected his quarry, and at a signal 

 all fired simultaneously. "When the smoke cleared away great 

 was our joy to behold three males and one ewe stretched upon 

 the ground, and two sheep leaping wildly about as if badly 

 wounded. Hushing from our place of concealment, we delivered 

 several shots in rapid succession at the now thoroughly alarmed 

 flock, which were making for the rocky summit at a break- 

 neck pace ; but the excitement having somewhat unstrung our 



