MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 127 



where about the fells, and to the hill farmers, 

 in these times of depression, this fact almost 

 spelled ruin. The skeletons were bleached, and 

 the only things that profited by the protracted 

 snows were the peregrines and ravens of the 

 crags. These birds still find an asylum in the 

 deepest recesses of the mountains. 



In the desolate hill tracts winter usually 

 lasts through eight months of the year. Layer 

 upon layer of snow become hard frozen, and 

 upon the highest peaks of Skiddaw and 

 Sea-Fell this often lies till June and July. 

 During Midsummer Day of 1886, the moun- 

 tains were all day lashed in blinding snow. 

 For the most part, April clears the summits 

 of the mists, and a better time is at hand. 

 The snows have gone from the lower grounds, 

 and sparse vegetation comes sweet and green. 

 This grows quickly, and the flocks rapidly 

 gain in condition. Now the sheep are ever 

 active; by the torrent sides, by the leas of 

 the boulders, along the rock-ledges they seek 

 the freshest grass. And in search of this they 

 sometimes become " crag-fast " — that is, they 

 climb and climb from one narrow ledge to 

 another, sometimes placing their four feet even 



