rty
feet--when, the Indians assert, they invariably alight on their horns,
and by this means save their bones from certain dislocation. They are
bighorns, or mountain sheep, and are considered the chief game of these
regions. The animals appear to partake both of the nature of the deer
and of the goat. They resemble the latter more especially in their
habits, and in frequenting the most lofty and inaccessible regions,
whence, except in the severest weather, they seldom descend to the
upland valleys. In size the bighorn is between the domestic sheep and
the common red-deer of America, but is more strongly built than the
latter. It is of a brownish-dun colour, with a somewhat white streak on
the hind-quarters. The tail is shorter than that of the deer, and
tipped with black. As the age of the animal increases, the coat becomes
of a darker tinge. The horns, of the male especially, are of great
size, curving backwards about three feet in length, and twenty inches in
circumference at the roots.

Frequently on the highest spot one of the band is stationed as a
sentinel, and whilst the others are feeding he looks out for the
approach of danger. They have even more acute sight and smell than the
deer. On an alarm being given the whole herd scampers up the mountain,
higher and higher, every now and then halting on some overhanging crag
and looking down oh the object which may have caused them alarm; then
once more they pursue their ascent, and as they bound up the steep sides
of the mountains throw down an avalanche of rocks and stones.

Occasionally the young lambs are caught and domesticated by the hunters
in their mountain homes, when they become greatly attached to their
masters, amusing them by their merry gambols and playful tricks.
Attempts have been made to transport them to the States; but although
milch-goats have been brought to feed the lambs, they have suffered by
the change from the pure air of the mountains to the plains, or they
have not taken kindly to their foster-mothers, and have invariably
perished on the journey.

The creatures reach a height of three feet six inches at the shoulders,
while the horns are of about the same length. In colour they vary
greatly, changing according to the season of the year.

The Bison, commonly called the Buffalo in America.

Throughout the wide-extending prairies of North America, from north to
south to the east of the Rocky Mountains, vast herds of huge animal