“Oh, non! dat am eempossoble.”
It was true, nevertheless, for his ball had been arrested by the stem of a tree not twenty yards before him.
While the shot was yet ringing, and before the laugh above referred to had pealed forth, Dick Varley fired, and the animal, springing into the air, fell down the precipice, and was almost dashed to pieces at their feet.
This Rocky Mountain or big-horned sheep was a particularly large and fine one, but being a patriarch of the flock was not well suited for food. It was considerably larger in size than the domestic sheep, and might be described as somewhat resembling a deer in the body and a ram in the head. Its horns were the chief point of interest to Dick; and, truly, they were astounding. Their enormous size was out of all proportion to the animal’s body, and they curved backwards and downwards, and then, curled up again in a sharp point. These creatures frequent the inaccessible heights of the Rocky Mountains, and are difficult to approach. They have a great fondness for salt, and pay regular visits to the caverns of these mountains, which are encrusted with a saline substance.
Walter Cameron now changed his intention of proceeding to the eastward, as he found the country not so full of beaver at that particular spot as he had anticipated. He therefore turned towards the west, penetrated into the interior of the mountains, and took a considerable sweep through the lovely valleys on their western slopes.
The expedition which this enterprising fur-trader was conducting was one of the first that ever penetrated these wild regions in search of furs. The ground over which they travelled was quite new to them, and having no guide they just moved about at haphazard, encamping on the margin of every stream or river on which signs of the beaver were discovered, and setting their traps.
Beaver skins at this time were worth 25s. a-piece in the markets of civilized lands, and in the Snake country, through which our friends were travelling, thousands of them were to be had from the Indians for trinkets and baubles that were scarce worth a farthing. A beaver skin could be procured from the Indians for a brass finger-ring or a penny looking-glass. Horses also could be procured for an axe or a knife.
The snow which had prematurely fallen had passed away, and the trappers now found themselves wandering about
