268 CASSIAR

the year round. The summit of this mountain, which is
about a mile in width, extends in a series of rolling hills
for about six miles. The eastern flank is badly broken
up, though not quite so badly as the other side. The
surface on the summit is bare of any vegetation except
for some moss and occasional patches of short grass,
Here and there are small banks of snow which never melt
from year’s end to year’s end. The far end of the mountains
drops off for about fifteen hundred feet into a charming
little valley, where there is an excellent camping-ground
and the finest kind of horse pasture. Across the valley
there is a comparatively easy climb to the top of a moun-
tain where rams are almost certain to be found. The
trouble is to get into this valley. Not only have you to
cross the high summit and run the risk of being caught
up there in the fog, which is by no means pleasant as I
have twice discovered, but the descent into the valley
is fraught with much danger for any but clever horses
with light packs on their backs. There is only one place
where the descent is at all possible, and even there the
first part of that is risky, being so steep that it is a marvel
that horses can manage it. This year, with the enormous
number of inexperienced horses I had, the chances were
that half of them would have come to grief if I had been
foolish enough to attempt it. So I was forced to try
other ranges where sheep were less plentiful.

When the sheep and goat hunting is finished, a return —
is made to the main trail and the caribou range headed
for. This necessitates another long march of several
days’ duration, as though there are a few caribou within
a fairly easy distance of the sheep range, their number
is limited, and you might spend more time looking for
them than it would take to reach the main range. When
once in their regular habitat you are certain of seeing
lots of herds; it is only a question of finding those with
antlers that suit you.

The route to the caribou range lies along the telegraph
line to Nahlin, where there is a station at which two men
live whose business it is to repair the line. The trail for