1010 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 25, 1910. 
We went home then. Not because we had as 
many birds as we could use, but because the real 
sportsman’s nerves were badly shaken by his 
close call and the embryo sportsman was a good 
bit discouraged. The fine old fellow did not bear 
malice. He knew how close had been the call 
when the charge of shot hurtled over his bump 
of intelligence, and how near my inexperience 
had come to ending his earthly career, but he 
was on hand that evening to take supper with 
me and assure me of his affection and confidence. 
We tried again next day. Part of it was a 
repetition of the first effort—so far as results 
went—but before getting in I made a clean, fair 
kill of a bird on the wing—a fine, strong flying 
lark, and how we did rejoice. Within a week 
I was gaining so in confidence that I could shoot 
with fair success at small game, but not at 
chickens. The rush and roar of flushing grouse 
disconcerted me. 
Extending our territory we began visiting the 
farms and getting in quail cover, and one after¬ 
noon of the second week I killed a quail out of 
a large covey flushed. It was an accident, so 
far as that particular bird was concerned, as I 
fired at the covey, but we celebrated as though 
the feat had been wholly orthodox. 
And now with a variety of game—grouse, 
quail, upland plover, larks, occasional flocks of 
rice birds, etc.—I began to notice a difference 
in Ponto’s method in following each. I am no 
candidate for the nature fakers’ club, nor do 
I desire to hand brother sportsmen a brick that 
will not stand the acid test. It has never been 
my ambition to be a relator of marvelous tales, 
and this is but the plain, unvarnished truth told 
of the friend of my youth, my first and best¬ 
loved teacher of field sports. 
Ranging, Ponto would travel in a long trot 
or swinging gallop. When he struck a game 
trail he would—at once—let me know what it 
was. If a lark, his head would be lowered near 
to the ground, and his point would be with head 
and body almost hugging the ground. On quail 
he would follow with head straight out, level 
with his body, and in that position he would 
make his point. Upland plover he would stand 
with head a little higher than quail, while on the 
lordly grouse he would trail and point with head 
held like that of a severely reined thoroughbred 
horse. 
I soon learned to recognize these distinctions, 
which I think were made solely to help me. I 
knew what to be ready for before the flush and 
soon acquired confidence in myself and my 
ability to handle the situation. 
Sometimes while trailing a lark my teacher 
would cross the trail of larger game—quail, 
plover or chicken—and at once leave the lark 
trail for that of the nobler game, but never 
without instantly changing position so as to give 
me immediate notice. 
This I first noticed on that momentous occas¬ 
ion 'when I bagged the first prairie chicken I 
ever killed. I was beginning to shoot with more 
skill and occasionally getting two or three birds 
—of the easier sort—for the day’s work, when 
toward the close of an afternoon’s outing I saw 
the dog working carefully with head close to 
the ground. Following closely I was looking 
each moment for a stand on lark, when suddenly 
his head went up, and standing erect he turned 
at right angle and started trailing. It instantly 
occurred to me that he had come on a fresh 
trail, or some other game, and when—head erect 
—he pointed steady and true, I ranged alongside 
with gun at ready, trying hard to steady my 
shaking hands. With a rush and roar three fine 
chickens flushed and I fired immediately. I knew 
that I did not take aim, but hoped for the best, 
as I stood trying to see through the fog of 
smoke blowing in my face. My heart skipped 
a beat when I finally made out but two birds 
flying off, for I knew that three had flushed. I 
did not dare to bid Ponto “fetch,” so fearful was 
I that I had made a mistake, but just waited. 
He seemed to hold his point unconscionably long, 
but finally he moved off, ranged for a moment, 
and then picked up and brought me the most 
beautiful bird I had ever seen. 
Fairly throwing away my gun I rushed to meet 
him, and falling on his neck embraced him and 
the bird at one and the same time. Then getting 
to my feet I snatched off my cap and threw it 
as high as I could, while I yelled like a wild 
Indian. Oh! but it was grand. It was glorious. 
I can shut my eyes now and in memory see 
the picture. The prairie, brown and gold; the 
setting sun, dropping down through a line of 
red clouds. The great brown dog, bearing the 
beautiful bird in his mouth, and the happiest 
boy in the Middle West mad with joy. It even 
got into the old dog’s blood and made him do 
a mild stunt of rejoicing. In all my acquaint¬ 
ance with him I never saw him nearer to a real 
gambol than he was then. Never stopping to 
reload, I ran all the way home. It must have 
been all of two miles, but had it been six my 
impatience to show my prairie chicken would 
have made me run it every step. 
With varying success and learning a little each 
day we continued our outings. Carefully the old 
dog directed me in the path a sportsman should 
tread; ever patient with my failures and ap¬ 
parently as happy as I when success crowned 
our efforts. 
[to be continued.] 
Northern Range of the White Goat. 
New York City, June 10 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The northern range of the Rocky 
Mountain goat ( Oreamnos ), as at present re¬ 
corded, needs correction in view of some evi¬ 
dence gathered during the several years I have 
spent in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. The 
evidence is positive that goats exist continu¬ 
ously on the coast ranges of British Columbia 
and Alaska as far north as the Knick River at 
the head of Cook’s Inlet. This northern record 
along the coast range was obtained by J. Alden 
Loring, a trained naturalist who visited the re¬ 
gion in 1901. 
There are positive records of goats existing 
in various places in the interior ranges of British 
Columbia, including the main range of the Rock¬ 
ies as far north as the vicinity of McDame 
Creek (Dease River) latitude 59 0 10'. Positive 
evidence of the occurrence of goats in this lati¬ 
tude was given me by Warburton Pike, who has 
killed them in that district. 
Do goats occur along the main ranges of the 
Rockies and other adjacent ranges of mountains 
still further to the north? Records are given for 
that territory as follows: Andrew J. Stone, who 
wintered on the Liard River and descended to 
the Mackenzie, which he navigated to the mouth, 
says: “The Rocky Mountain goat is found in 
limited numbers throughout the Rocky Moun¬ 
tain region as far north as latitude 63° or 64° 
30', but are nowhere so plentiful as in the coast 
ranges.” (Bulletin of the American Museum 
of Natural History, Vol. XIII., Article V., page 
47 -) 
Madison Grant says the goat “probably ex¬ 
tends from the American up through the Cana¬ 
dian Rockies to the northern limits of goat in 
that region, which is west of the Mackenzie 
River at about north latitude 63° 30'.” Also he 
notes, on the authority of Mr. Stone, a break 
in the range north of the Liard River, “No goats 
are found for a distance of over a hundred 
miles.” (“The Rocky Mountain Goat,” by 
Madison Grant, Ninth Annual Report of the 
New York Zoological Society, 1905.) 
William T. Hornaday gathered such evidence 
as he could and incorporated it in his interest¬ 
ing book, “Camp-Fires in the Canadian Rockies,” 
1906, page 106-107. He quotes the following 
records: “Frances Lake, latitude 6i° 30'” 
(Warburton Pike, Charles Sheldon). “Main 
range of Rocky Mountains, from Peace River 
to latitude of Fort Simpson, 62°” (W. J. Mc¬ 
Lean). 
Edward A. Preble, an experienced naturalist 
of the Biological Survey, spent a year (1903- 
1904) in the Mackenzie River region, including 
a winter at Fort Simpson. His special mission 
was to make a biological investigation of the 
region. On his return he made a most exhaus¬ 
tive study of all the literature bearing on that 
region, and published an able and voluminous 
report on the biology. As a result of his in¬ 
vestigations, he mentioned the goat as listed by 
Ross near Fort Simpson. He quotes MacFar- 
laine as-stating that the goat ranges north at 
least to the Arctic circle. It is to be noted, 
