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ONE day in Glacier Gorge, Colorado, I was 

 astonished to see a number of sheep start 

 to descend the precipitous eastern face of 

 Thatch-Top Mountain. This glaciated wall, 

 only a few degrees off the perpendicular, rises 

 comparatively smooth for several hundred feet. 

 Down they came, slowly, with absolute com- 

 posure, over places I dared not even try to de- 

 scend. The nearness of the sheep and the use 

 of field-glasses gave me excellent views of the 

 many ways in which they actually seemed to 

 court danger. 



It is intensely thrilling to watch a leaping 

 exhibition of one of these heavy, agile, alert, 

 and athletic animals. Down precipitous places 

 he plunges head foremost, turning and check- 

 ing himself as he descends by striking his feet 

 against walls and projections — perhaps a 

 dozen times — before alighting on a ledge for 



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