Telegram-herald., 1890-11-15
THE BfG HORN SHEEP.
Towering Prscspioss Eask1y De-
scozdsd oy ths Woc2ly RoaGasr.
a D~sil<< 81 sAs cx1ss sas cnns - shs
Esxky aeG4EsAzs-ns~ tAs S~~t&s4s
Aalsa.Ls K1ssPs ffsaa tks
San - tie hostsE

In 5 Main street G gar store. saws the
Kansas City star. is ssuce1 specimen
q tie ArgAt. CT ~ horn sheep - the
Eecky @oauI4ins. Ials aairaal IL act
only very shy bat having a. appetite
fer Tegetati0n ~aich caH only be dis
covered amoag TIE very highest piaseaus
of tue Rocky mountains, Is q dwellef q
the crzgs Eaa ellis. II is seldom 10
bgeathesa = more rzrine& atmosphere than
Is found ia an aliitude of s, 90 feet fts
manner o. life ard IL place of living
uaake il dif7eelt animal fos the huntsF.
and the ses and other mountain Ia
di4ns IN the day Of he bow and arrow
looked on the killng of big horn a. .
feat They are very scarce and mol 81
all prolific.
There has always been large amount
of lylng about The big horn Hunsers
h4d. for tin-o, some unsKplaina5le ex-
perienoes with them. A bunch of four
or Eve would be seen feeding upon
sOme high grassy mesa or Iable-land.
which would find termination, on three
sides perhaps. il a preciPitous gP-Snd-
down descent OF several hundred feet
The hunter. ambitious and indefatig-
able, would. with Infinite labor. creep
ing up canyons and crawling
among rocks, come IN behind
them lie would exult IN the certainty
OF shot The big horns could not es-
cape. 4 400-foot preoipice on three sides
50 steep that bird could scarcely sns-
tain itself thereon and the hunter cut
ting of retreat on the fourth, matters
looked gloomy FOR the big horn. Rest
ing himself for moment 20 recover has
breath ana nerve, both somewhat
strained in his scramble among the
rocks, the hunter would move forward.
On catching sight or scent OF him the
big horns would amblo in a confident
and contented way apparently 20 tho
edge OF tho precipice and disappear.
The hunter on coming forward would
see his game racing FAR out in the valley
400 feet below. Row did they get there?
That was always the question with the
Western man. II was finally concluded
on all hands that tho big horn Jumped
AS his four slender legs could scarcely
be expected TO sustain such a descent,
the ingenious Western mind had re-
course 10 the big horns from which the
Argali gets his soubriquet. These ero
from four TO seven inches in diameter
at the base and sproUt in horny spirals
from the animals head much after the
fashion Of the horns OF that engine Of
destruction the common Merino ram.
When tho big horn leaped, said these
Munchausens, he turned head down
ward and alighted on these horns. They
had seen him make the trip, they said,
and they would thercupon enlarge on
the downward whiEzing plunge OF any
thing from 800 10 1000 feet, according TO
the mendacity OF the raconteur. They
would tell how he descended like some
curved woolly boomerang, and re-
bounded from his horned frontlet TO a
height of forty feet and then ambled
away bleating with pride and pleasure
at his success. So accurate naturalist
and so careful awriter as Mayne Reid
wrote a book about it and in his story
cast his big horns over precipices OF
1000 feet without scruple.
But the Argali does not indulge him
self in tho flights ascribed to him. He
has too much good sense. A jump from
such heights would smash to smithereens
a big horn made Of steel. But the mat
ter is not left to doubtful argument.
Their manner Of descent has been dis
covered and is easy enough-for a big
ho-n-when once you witness IT, All
through these mountains you will find
seams and riffs which split the preci-
pices from top TO bottom. The rock has
been torn asunder by some force OF na-
ture and the result in many instances is
a cleft or split where the walls are no,
separated twenty feet and yet run from
the bottom to the top Of the cliff some
hundreds OF feet. That the rock sides
were once together may be seen in the
swells or p-otuberances of one wall cor
responding to the depressions in the
other.
The big horn is the prince OF caution.
Before he is found anywhere he has
mado a complete war map Of the neigh
borhood, which he carries locked in his
woolly head. When be disports himself
on some dizzy plateau he Is always GER
tain OF an OAbleh NJ CAt &c sac AOF MIN
he is too good mountaineer for that
Before he nibblcs a mouthful Of the
crisp herbage he has looked Up one OF
these deep riffs which 60 down 10 the
valley below. The moment he is dis
turbed he makes straight for IL. Arriv'
ing at the verge be never hesitates but
jumps boldly out and down, aiming fOl
tho other side OF the deep crevice. This
he strikes with his four hoofs. which are
hard as cast steel. and At once leaps
back for the other side He descends
perhaps fifteen or eighteen feet at q
leap. and ss he could not retain foot
hold FOR moment a. any one Of the
places he strikes tAc rock, be never
pauses IN his zigzag leaping uudl the
last one brings him = the valley hun
dreds Of feet below. That crevice Is ths
big horns stairway and hat is the waJ