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THE WAPITI 
283 
try another spur. When we regarded the numerous 
slopes, or spurs, which appeared to be natural path¬ 
ways to the valley some 4000 or 5000 feet below, 
it was difficult to believe that they were alike 
intersected by canyons, all of which were the result 
of earthquake disturbance at some distant period 
which had split the mountain horizontally. We 
were delayed for more than an hour in marching 
and counter-marching, until it seemed as though 
we were hopelessly cut off from the home that 
lay snugly in the valley before our eyes. 
At length I remarked a wooded slope rising 
higher than the rest; this was shaped like a 
wedge, and continued from top to bottom of the 
mountain; I felt sure that an uninterrupted 
descent would be obtained, could we only manage 
to climb this lofty ridge. We accordingly cut 
across a number of depressions, in one of which 
we came upon a fine bull buffalo which was asleep 
beneath the rocks. I would not shoot it, and 
we watched the easy manner with which this 
massive animal traversed the rocky ground, and 
climbed the steep gradients with the comparative 
activity of a goat. Our horses were good, but it 
was as much as they could do to breast the steep 
ascent, which at length brought us to the summit 
of the wooded ridge. This was a curious buttress 
of the mountain ; it was not 80 yards in width, 
but a well-marked track, and numerous chippings 
from the axe showed that persons from the 
valley had been here to fell the spruce, probably 
