(goc^g (mountain Tl^onberfan^ 



a full stop. From this he walks overboard and 

 repeats the wild performance! 



Wild mountain sheep are perhaps the most 

 accomplished and dare-devil acrobats in the 

 animal world. They are indifferent to the depths 

 beneath as they go merrily along canon-walls. 

 The chamois and the wild mountain goat may 

 equal them in climbing among the crags and 

 peaks, but in descending dizzy precipices and 

 sheer walls the bighorn sheep are unrivaled. 

 When sheep hurriedly descend a precipice, the 

 laws of falling bodies are given a most spectac- 

 ular display, and the possibilities of friction and 

 adhesion are tested to the utmost. 



A heavily horned ram led the way down 

 Thatch-Top. He was followed by two young 

 rams and a number of ewes, with two small lambs 

 in the rear. They were in single file, each well 

 separated from the others. Down this frightful 

 wall the lambs appeared to be going to certain 

 death. At times they all followed the contour 

 round small spurs or in niches. In places, from 

 my point of view they appeared to be flattened 

 against the wall and descending head foremost. 



24 



