XXIV 
THE WAPITI 
243 
well acquainted with a large area of country, perhaps 
extending for several hundred miles, through which 
they have been accustomed to range from the days 
of their birth. 
The wapiti is a wide ranger, and I have no doubt 
that those which are met with on the Big Horn 
range in the State of Wyoming travel at certain 
seasons to the main range of the Rocky Mountains. 
All animals that are gregarious are migratory, 
especially if they are in large numbers. I have 
myself seen at least 300 wapiti in one herd, and I 
am quite certain that they went straight away from 
the Big Horn range, as I never saw them again, 
although I was riding great distances every day for 
several weeks throughout the country. 
I have already described the character of the Big 
Horn mountains in the chapter devoted to the bear ; 
it is only necessary to repeat that it resembles the 
Highlands of Scotland to a certain degree, upon an 
enormous scale, the mountains rising to an altitude 
of 12,000 feet above the sea-level, and the forests of 
spruce firs extending for many miles along the 
slopes. The superiority over Scotland consists in 
the firm character of the soil; there are no swamps 
or peat mosses, but fine grass, which forms a most 
fattening pasturage, and in many places the wild 
sage takes the place of Scottish heather. It may 
be readily imagined that such a combination forms 
the perfection of a shooting-ground. There are, 
however, considerable drawbacks. Although the 
climate is extremely healthy, the atmosphere is most 
