256 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
my man had kept quiet, I should most certainly 
have obtained a splendid chance; as it had 
happened, I could only admire the sight of these 
grand animals in rapid movement ascending the 
open slope until they at length reached the summit, 
and having crossed the sky-line they were lost to 
view. 
I have no doubt that this fine herd travelled 
direct, and did not return to the Big Horn range 
during the remainder of the autumn season. 
Having crossed the shoulder of the mountains, they 
had a straight course down hill for 7 or 8 miles, 
and then a wild and uninhabited district for 60 
or 70 miles towards the main range of the Rocky 
Mountains. From the direction they took, I feel 
confident this was the case, and their departure 
from our range was highly instructive, showing the 
direct effect of disturbance in driving wild animals 
away from a particular district. If these wapiti 
had been divided into twenty or thirty herds of 
small numbers, they would have been scattered over 
an extreme area, and have afforded permanent 
sport for many days; but the fact of their being 
collected into one vast herd would denude the 
country. A very large herd would probably travel 
a much greater distance than a smaller number. 
All masses and crowds are influenced by panics ; the 
presence of many females with their young ones 
would increase the excitement of a retreat, and a 
march of only five hours would carry a herd of deer 
over an interval of 25 or 30 miles. 
