62 NORTHERN SHEEP

ago, and though there are some still, they are too remote
for most people to have time to visit them.

During the past four or five years the number of the
northern sheep has been terribly reduced. Many of the
famous Cassiar ranges, such as the Shesley, Nahlin,
Nakima, and even the Clapan, where the Stone sheep
are obtained, have not a quarter of the number they had.
It is rather hard to decide positively the reason for this
decrease, as though excessive hunting may be responsible
for it in a few places, such as the ranges near Atlin Lake,
where they have been indiscriminately slain for market
purposes, it is hardly likely that this is the cause in the
more out-of-the-way places. Several of the Indians who
have been acting as guides for many years, and who
should know, insist that the sheep have not been killed
off or died of disease, but that they have migrated. Their
theory does not appeal to me as a likely one. In the first
place, sheep, especially the northern varieties, seldom
migrate unless they are forced to do so by overcrowding ;
a band that has been driven off a range by being hunted
and shot at may stay away for a few days or a week or
even a month, but sooner or later they will return. But,
supposing they have migrated, the question is where
have they gone to? It must have been a long distance,
or their arrival on other mountains must have been noted
by somebody. To me it seems that the decrease may
possibly be traced to a combination of disease and an
unusual prevalence of beasts and birds of prey. Not
very many years ago there is no doubt that numbers of
the northern sheep were afflicted with actinomycosis, or,
to give it its common name, ‘“‘ lumpy jaw,’’ which is said
to be very deadly amongst domestic animals. Whether
the disease is as severe among wild sheep, or whether these
animals are of such greater stamina that they can with-
stand its ravages, I cannot say, but the fact remains that,
while it possibly may have caused the death of a number
of sheep, and so may have had something to do with the
decrease, it most certainly was not the sole cause, as a
great many that were badly afflicted did not die from it,