Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 
i;ntrance; to the she;e;p country: low divide; 3,000 fe;et above skilak lake, 
where the author camped alone the first night (see page 473) 
in the animals and birds which, in the 
shadows of the dechning sun, came out 
of thickets of evergreen and willow. 
At one time I could see a dozen porcu- 
pine — black-haired and of the Canadian 
species — feeding stolidly as sloths on the 
fresh vegetation bordering the receding 
snowbanks. 
A cock spruce partridge came within 
five feet of the tent, evidently mistaking 
it for snow ; a brood of willow ptarmi- 
gan were seen in the willows just above, 
while higher up a fox brought to view a 
covey of rock ptarmigan, heretofore de- 
scribed (see page 457). Moose signs 
were plentiful, but no moose were seen. 
The air about resounded with clear notes 
of the hoary marmot, the mountain wood- 
chuck of the North (see pages 434, 435). 
"Then came the mosquitoes, the post- 
season crop of the higher altitudes, when 
the insect-proof tent became a place of 
refuge for the night. 
On the following morning I had hardly 
finished breakfast when along came the 
men, red-faced and tired in the fight 
against gravity and the worst of moun- 
tain trails. An hour later we were 
climbing over the broken rocks littering 
the floor of the divide, and thence enter- 
ing a great plateau sloping southerly to 
Benjamin Creek. For the re^t of the 
day we struggled through bushes, stum- 
bling into grass-covered cracks, leapiiig 
from tussock to tussock, and circling 
about swamps and mud-holes. 
In the midst of all this turmoil Tom 
pointed out round dots of white on a dis- 
tant ridge which looked like weathered 
boulders or snowballs from the frozen 
fields above. These were the white 
mountain sheep of which we were in 
search. 
When I asked Tom, somewhat hope- 
fully, whether it would not be wise to 
begin the camera hunt at once, since it 
made no difl:"erence whether we fright- 
ened these sheep or not, he politely con- 
cealed a negative answer by saying that 
if I would circle two miles to the left, 
ascend the mountain top from the rear, 
he would drive the sheep toward me be- 
fore dark. This didn't seem like getting 
to Benjamin Creek on schedule time; 
but as Tom assured me, in a sympathetic 
tone, that I would see four or five sheep 
474 
