A SHOT AT A MOUNTAIN SHEEP 185 



head down a crevice, where it jammed. I descended, 

 released the carcass, and pitched it on ahead of me, only 

 to have it jam again near the foot of the cliff. Before 

 I got it loose I was joined by my three companions, who 

 had been running headlong toward me through the brush 

 ever since the time they had seen the animal fall. 



I never obtained another sheep under circumstances 

 which seemed to me quite so remarkable as these; for 

 sheep are, on the whole, the wariest of game. Neverthe- 

 less, with all game there is an immense amount of chance 

 in the chase, and it is perhaps not wholly uncharacteristic 

 of a hunter's luck that, after having hunted faithfully in 

 vain and with much hard labor for several days through 

 a good sheep country, we should at last have obtained 

 one within sight and earshot of camp. Incidentally I 

 may mention that I have never tasted better mutton, or 

 meat of any kind, than that furnished by this tender 

 yearling. 



The nomenclature and exact specific relationships of 

 American sheep, deer and antelope offer difficulties not 

 only to the hunter but to the naturalist. As regards the 

 nomenclature, we share the trouble encountered by all 

 peoples of European descent who have gone into strange 

 lands. The incomers are almost invariably men who are 

 not accustomed to scientific precision of expression. Like 

 other people, they do not like to invent names if they 

 can by any possibility make use of those already in ex- 

 istence, and so in a large number of cases they call the 

 new birds and animals by names applied to entirely dif- 

 ferent birds and animals of the Old World to which, in 



