With Goats and Sheep in British 
Columbia.—II. 
A COUPLE of hours brought me to the high 
crest overlooking the valley of another stream 
which ran the other way. Here, close to the 
ridge, I came upon a big billygoat feeding quite 
unsuspicious among the rocks high up. For 
some time I did not think of shooting him. It 
was much more interesting to watch; besides 
that, unless my ears had deceived me, the 
Youngster had already more meat than we could 
eat in camp, and I knew very well that the flesh 
of a tough old male goat was not worth the 
trouble of carrying to camp. To be sure he 
little draw from the stream, a herd of twelve 
or fifteen deer. Most of them were does and 
young stock, but there were one or two small 
bucks with them. Here was some meat that 
was worth while carrying to camp. The deer 
were not far off, and pushing straight for the 
hills, and it was no trouble to creep up to with¬ 
in easy range of where they would pass. How¬ 
ever, they must have been made uneasy by the 
shooting and went somewhat faster, than I 
supposed, so that when I raised my head to look 
for them I could not see them, but presently 
they came in view a hundred yards beyond me 
up the little draw and were just about to climb 
the hills and go out of sight. Part way up the 
washed my hands and sat down for a pipe. 
Presently the others overtook me. Then the 
Youngster told me the story of his hunt. 
“After I left you,” he said, “Baptiste and I 
scrambled up the mountain to look for these 
goats. It was hard going, very steep, with a 
lot of fallen burnt logs, plenty of thorny bushes 
and dry sliding soil under the feet. I was 
about played out when we got up to a ledge 
where we could stop. The climb did not seem 
to have troubled Baptiste a bit. and he was 
anxious that we should keep on after the goats 
for fear that they might become suspicious and 
start up the mountain, in which case we never 
could have overtaken them. I insisted, however. 
THE PATIENT PACKS. 
AN OLD BILLY. 
would have a big skin, and by this time the 
wool and hair had grown quite long, so that his 
hide would make a good mat, but was it worth 
while to kill him for that when fifty cents or 
a dollar would get me as good a mat close to 
the settlements? I scarcely thought it was good 
the settlements? Besides I enjoyed watching 
him. 
He was a business-like goat and fed steadily 
along the hillside, sometimes just at the base 
of the rocks and sometimes clambering up a 
little way to get a bite of some specially attrac¬ 
tive food. Again he would rear on his hind 
legs and with his forefeet against the cliff would 
stretch up and nibble at some vegetation. Once, 
and I think it is the first time I ever saw a 
goat do it, he sat down on his haunches like 
a dog and looked off over the valley. Then, I 
confess, I came very near killing him, for I 
wanted to examine his hips to see whether the 
hair on them was worn enough to show that 
he habitually sat down as I had seen him sit. 
I learned later that they frequently do this. I 
watched him for some time and then turned 
about and went toward camp. 
Just before I reached the place where I had 
parted from the Youngster I saw, coming up a 
hill, however, they stopped and turned and I 
picked out what I thought was a big yearling 
and fired at her. She was standing broadside 
to me and was only about a hundred yards away, 
so I shot at her low down and just behind the 
elbow. At the sound of the rifle they all scur¬ 
ried for the top of the hill and presently dis¬ 
appeared, all except the one I had shot at. She 
paused just before reaching the top of the bluff 
and stopped, then staggered a little, and falling 
on her side, began to roll down toward me. 
When I reached her she was dead. The ball 
had entered at just the right spot and when I 
dressed her I found the bullet hole through the 
thick part of the heart. She was too big to 
carry into camp with any comfort, and I took 
out the heart and tenderloins and walked toward 
camp, carrying them in my hand, intending to 
come back later with a pack horse. 
As I went down the valley I saw the Young¬ 
ster and Baptiste coming down the hill, each 
one carrying something white on his back, and 
waiting for them it presently developed that 
the Youngster had on his back a kid, unskinned, 
while the Indian had the hide, head and hams 
of an old goat. 
On the bank of a little side creek I stopped. 
on a little breathing spell, but presently we went 
on, Baptiste ahead. 
“When we reached the place from which the 
goats ought to have been seen we could not 
find them and then Baptiste was sure that they 
had started up the hill. A well worn path led 
along the mountainside, constantly ascending a 
little, and before we had gone far Baptiste 
pointed out to me what he said were tracks of 
the goats. I could hardly see them, I confess, 
but after he had shown me the places I could 
see once in a while the imprint of part of a 
hoof, and occasionally a small stone pushed out 
of place or partly tilted up. I could even see 
that' there were tracks here of two sizes. Bap¬ 
tiste said the tracks were very fresh and must 
have been made by the goats we were after. 
“I tell you he is a great hunter. Nothing 
that goes on escapes him. He was looking in all 
directions and listening all the time, and yet 
all the time he was watching those tracks. Pres¬ 
ently he stopped and pointing, said to me, ‘Do 
you see them goats,’ and as I looked in the direc¬ 
tion of his finger, I did see the old goat and 
the kid standing side by side on a big rock, and 
looking down at us. I fired at once and the old 
goat pitched forward and came rolling down the 
