BIG HORN 51

Dennis wanted to inspect first of all a large gulch to
the eastward which we had not yet been near, and if
we did not find any sheep there, we were to return
and go after the goats, which seemed to be in no hurry
to leave their present position. Before -starting,
however, we had a little snack of food and a pipe,
and then continued along the slope. We soon came on
fresh sheep tracks, and the tracks of big rams at that,
according to Dennis, and he seemed to feel pretty
certain that they could not be far off.

Crawling down the mountain side we got far enough
to overlook the large gulch which terminated far down
among the trees. A satisfied grunt from Dennis
showed that he had discovered something, and handing
me the binoculars he pointed downwards, but with
the best of intentions I could discover nothing but
interminable grey stony slopes.

“Down there are four sheep,’’ whispered Dennis,
in his broken English, ‘‘and all great big rams!”
Like most Indians, Dennis got very excited when he
was near game, which very often resulted in his esti-
mating wrongly the size of the heads, so that his
“hunter” brought back inferior trophies. This is, of
course, a thing to be guarded against, especially where
the sportsman is only allowed to bag a couple of animals
of each species. Dennis was a most wonderful hunter,
however, and his ability to spot game with the naked
eye, and to stalk animals, was nothing short of
marvellous.

It proved impossible to approach the animals
sufficiently from this point, so we were obliged to retreat
the way we had come and attempt to get down through
a cleft which we found further along. Most important