The Wild Sheep of California [pp. 358-363]

362 THE WJLD SHEEP OF CALJFOI?NIA. [APRIL,
polished incline, and reached the top ed with brown cedars and pines; in the
without a struggle, by a succession of distance, lofty mountains rising far into
short, stiff leaps, bringing their hoofs the fl~in blue sky; in the centre, the
down sharply with a patting sound. This snowy cascade, the voice and the soul
was the most astounding feat of mount- of all, fringing shrubs waving time to
aineering I had ever witnessed. Just a its thunder-tones; and in front, the
few days previous, my cautious, iron-shod brave sheep, their gray forms slightly
mules fell, on good rough ground, de- obscured in the spray, yet firmly defined
scending the canon-side in lawless ava- on the close, dense white of the catalanche; and many a time I have been ract, their huge rough horns rising in
compelled to tie my shoes and stockings the midst like upturned roots of dead
to my belt, and creep up far easier slopes pine-trees-the setting sun lighting the
with the utmost caution. No wonder, caflon, purpling and glorifying all.
then, I watched the progress of these After crossing the river, the dauntless
animal mountaineers with intensest sym- climbers, led by their chief, at once bepathy, and exulted in the boundless suf- gan to scale the caflon wall; nbw right,
ficiency of wild nature displayed in their now left, in long single file, leaping in
invention, construction, and keeping. succession from cliff to cliff; now ascendBut judge the measure of my overjoy ing slippery dome-curves; now walking
when, a few moments later, I caught the edges of precipices, stopping at
sight of a dozen more in one flock near times to gaze down at me from some
the base of the upper cascade. They flat-topped rock, with heads held aslant,
were on the same side of the river with as if curious to find out whether I was
me, distant only twenty - five or thirty about to follow. When they had reachyards. and looking as unworn, calm, and ed the top of the wall, 1,500 to 2,000 feet
bright, as if created on the spot. It ap- high, I could still see their noble forms
pears that when I came up the caflon, outlined on the sky as they lingered,
they all were feeding together in the looking down in groups of two or three,
valley, and in their haste to reach high giving rare animation to the sublime
ground, where they could look about cliffs. Throughout the whole ascent, I
them to ascertain the nature of the dis- did not observe a single awkward step
turbance, they were divided, three hav- or unsuccessful effort. I have often
ing ascended on one side of the cascade, seen tame sheep in the mountains jump
the rest on the other. The main flock, upon a sloping rock - surface, hold on
headed by an experienced chief, began tremulously a few seconds, and fall back
to cross the rapids soon after I first ob- baffled and irresolute; but in the most
served them. The crossing of swift tor- trying dangers, where the slightest inacrents on chance bowlders is nerve-trying curacy would have resulted in destruc work even for men mountaineers, yet tion, these moved with magnificent relithese shepherdless sheep leaped from ance on their strength and skill, the limbowlder to bowlder, and held themselves its of which they never seemed to know.
in perfect poise above the whirling cur- Moreover, each one of the flock,
rent, as if doing nothing extraordinary. though acknowledging the right of lead The immediate foreground of the rare ership to the most experienced, climbed
picture before me, was glossy ice-planed with intelligent independence-a perfect
granite, traversed by seams in which individual, capable of separate exist grew rock-ferns and tufts of heathy bry- ence whenever it should choose to se anthus, the gray caflon walls on both cede from the little clan. But the do sides splendidly sculptured, and adorn- mestic sheep is only a fraction of an