178 BIG GAME SHOOTING IN ALASKA chap. 



As we had ample time before us, and the men were 

 heavily loaded, we advanced by easy stages and camped the 

 first evening near a small lake called Emma Lake, which is, 

 I believe, named after Mrs. Dal de Weese, who accompanied 

 her husband on his shooting trip in that country in 1901. 

 Whilst on the trail I bagged half-a-dozen spruce-grouse and 

 a porcupine with the little rifle, and so we had a good stew 

 for supper. Next raorning we followed a trail which led out 

 of the timber line, and after two hours' slow crawling up hill, 

 reached the summit of the first mountain range. From this 

 point we could see Indian Creek below us, with a big glacier 

 at its head. On each side of the creek rose steep hills, and 

 on the mountain sides opposite to us we soon saw the first 

 mountain sheep. The whole side of one hill was alive with 

 small bands of them, easily visible to the naked eye for a 

 great distance, as their almost snow-white coats showed up 

 very distinctly against the green grass or the dark rocks on 

 which they stood. There was no occasion here for a long 

 and patient spying with a telescope to discover a beast ; but 

 I feared that owing to the great number of the sheep they 

 were likely to be only ewes and lambs, since at this time of 

 year the old rams usually get away in small bands by them- 

 selves. Turning the glasses on them, I soon found this 

 to be the case, and although we counted eighty-six sheep 

 within sight, not one of them was a ram of any size. How- 

 ever, we did not doubt that ere long we should discover the 

 rams somewhere in the near neighbourhood. Pushing on 

 farther, we descended into the valley of the stream, where 

 our immediate object was to find a place suitable for wading 

 across. Even when a place was found where the water did 

 not reach above our waists, it was only with the greatest 

 difficulty that we could keep on our legs against the stream. 



