THE HOME OF THE MOUNTAIN GOAT, LAKE CHELAN, WASHINGTON. 



old gentleman, whom I will call Hender- 

 son, kindly gave me all the information I 

 desired. 



He told me of the location — that there 

 were plenty of goats — and that my chances 

 for getting one would be good if I went to 

 the same place. 



I really did not feel that I could spare 4 

 days for a hunt of this kind, but the tempta- 

 tion was too great, and I made arrange- 

 ments with Henderson to show me the way 

 to the hunting grounds. 



The steamer left for up the lake the fol- 

 lowing morning, and Henderson and I 

 were among the passengers. We were 

 landed at Goat Harbor in the early after- 

 noon. Henderson said it would be advis- 

 able to make camp and get an early start 

 in the morning. 



A hard bed, and dreams of ferocious 

 " billy " goats were not conducive to sleep, 

 and I felt in the morning I was not in con- 

 dition for the work ahead of me. 



After partaking of a hurriedly prepared 

 breakfast, we started up the mountain to 

 the left of the creek. We had not gone far 

 before I discovered I was no match for the 

 old gentleman. 



It was up, up, up, and so often were 

 stops made, because of my " wind going 

 back on me," that it was too late to do any 

 hunting by the time we reached the goat 

 country. 



Henderson said the early morning would 

 be the best time to hunt, anyway. 



Extreme fatigue rendered a bed on the 

 ground, rolled in my blanket, a very rest- 

 ful one and I awakened ready to enjoy my 

 surroundings. 



We had reached an elevation of, perhaps, 

 6,000 feet above the lake, and were sur- 

 rounded by the wildest kind of scenery. 



After proceeding up the main canyon we 

 came to a deep one with a small creek in 

 the bottom, running into the main creek. 

 We were slowly following up the left side 

 of. this when Henderson stopped suddenly, 

 and pointed across the canyon. 



Sure enough, there was a goat walking 

 near a perpendicular wall of rock. I was 

 so interested in the view I had forgotten 

 all about the gun, and before it struck me 

 that I was there for the purpose of killing 

 a goat, it had passed out of sight. 



" You had better get yourself in position 

 for any more that may come along that 

 way," said Henderson. 



I found a good location and had just got- 

 ten in position when 2 goats came into view 

 on the same trail. The one in the lead was 

 a fine looking fellow and I quickly took 

 aim and fired. A little cloud of dust at the 

 goat's feet showed I had miscalculated the 

 distance. The goat stopped for an instant 

 and I took a more careful aim. 



After the report, " billy " reared up on his 

 hind legs, gave his head a playful shake and 

 scampered away behind some rocks. 



" That was a little closer," said Hender- 

 son; "but I think your aim was a trifle 

 low." 



I then fixed the sights to suit the distance 

 according to Henderson's idea, and waited 

 nearly half an hour before another goat 

 made its appearance. When it did come 

 I promptly fired. This time I had surely hit 

 my mark. The goat fell, rose to its feet, 

 made 2 or 3 spasmodic jumps and rolled 



441 



