MOUNTAIN SPORTS. 
2S5 
“ This animal is very commonly called the Mountain Sheep, 
and is often confounded with another animal, the £ Woolly Sheep,’ 
found more to the northward, about the country of the Flatheads. 
The latter likewise inhabits cliffs in the summer, but descends 
into the valleys in the winter. It has white wool, like a Sheep, 
mingled with a thin growth of long hair; but it has short legs, 
a deep belly, and a beard like a Goat. Its horns are about five 
inches long, slightly curved backward, black as jet, and beauti¬ 
fully polished. Its hoofs are of the same color. This animal is 
by no means so active as the Bighorn ; it does not bound so much, 
but sits a good deal on its haunches. It is not so plentiful either ; 
rarely more than two or three are seen at a time. Its wool alone 
gives a resemblance to the Sheep ; it is more properly of the 
Goat genus. The flesh is said to have a musty flavor ; some 
have thought the fleece might be valuable, as it is said to be as 
fine as that of the Goat of Cashmere, but it is not to be procured 
in sufficient quantities. 
u The Ahsahta, Argali, or Bighorn, on the contrary, has 
short hair like a Deer, and resembles it in shape, but has the 
head and horns of a Sheep, and its flesh is said to be delicious 
mutton. The Indians consider it more delicious than any other 
kind of venison. It abounds in the Rocky Mountains, from the 
fiftieth degree of North Latitude quite down to California—gene¬ 
rally in the highest regions capable of vegetation; sometimes it 
ventures into the valleys, but on the least alarm regains its fa¬ 
vorite cliffs and precipices, where it is perilous, if not impossible, 
for the hunter to follow. 
“ Dimensions of a male of this species, from the nose to the 
base of the tail, five feet; length of the tail, four inches; girth 
of the body, four feet; height, three feet, eight inches ; the 
horn, three feet, six inches long—one foot, three inches in cir¬ 
cumference at the base .”—The Adventures of Captain Bonne¬ 
ville , U. S. A. By Washington Irving. 
Since my attention was called to the above, I chanced to find 
in a work called “ Gleanings of Nature,” by Robert Mudie, pub¬ 
lished in London in 183S, two coarsely executed but characte- 
