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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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the old and new worlds, 

 and most of them have 

 their homes about high 

 and desolate mountain 

 crests rising above the 

 coniferous forests at tim- 

 ber-line, where they live 

 amid arctic or semi-arctic 

 conditions. Among the 

 mountain sheep of Lower 

 California these common 

 conditions of life are re- 

 versed and they occupy 

 the low desert ranges par- 

 allel to the Gulf coast 

 from sea-level up to 4,000 

 or 5,000 feet altitude, al- 

 ways below the lower 

 limit of the coniferous 

 forests which adorn the 

 upper levels of the high 

 mountains in the northern 

 part of the peninsula. 



Here the summer tem- 

 peratures are commonly 

 much more than ioo° 

 Fahrenheit in the shade, 

 and the arid mountain 

 slopes have a scanty 

 growth of cactuses, yuc- 

 cas, Fouquieras, and other 

 strictly desert plants. 

 These sheep commonly go 

 to water when available 

 in the hot, dry summers, 

 but are able to exist for 

 considerable periods, even 

 in hot weather, on the 

 moisture obtained from 

 the fleshy visnaga cactus, 

 the tender flowers and 

 flower stalks of agaves 

 and yuccas, and from 

 other water-storing desert 

 plants. 



During the last few 

 years numerous American 

 sportsmen have hunted 

 these sheep in the barren 

 mountains in the north- 

 eastern part of the penin- 

 sula. During this period 

 the sheep have decreased 

 considerably in numbers, 

 mainly, however, through 



