Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/364

 through fallen timber were unable to approach near enough. An hour later, while I was jotting down the character of the country in my note-book, eight mountain sheep came up almost close enough to touch me, and gazed with wonder at the intruder. They were beautiful creatures in appearance: somewhat of a cross between the deer, the sheep, and the mule; the head resembles that of the domestic sheep, surmounted by a pair of ponderous convoluted horns; the body, in a slight degree, that of a mule, but much more graceful; and the legs those of a deer, but somewhat more "chunky;" the tail, short, slender, furnished with a brush at the extremity; the hair, short and chocolate-gray in color; the eyes rival the beauty of the topaz. Before I could grasp my carbine they had scampered around a rocky promontory, where three of them were killed: one by General Crook and two by others of the party.

Camp kept moving from creek to creek in the valley of the Tongue, always finding abundant pasturage, plenty of fuel, and an ample supply of the coldest and best water. The foot-hills of the Big Horn are the ideal camping-grounds for mounted troops; the grass grows to such a height that it can be cut with a mowing-machine; cattle thrive, and although the winters are severe, with proper shelter all kinds of stock should prosper. The opportunity of making a suitable cross between the acclimatized buffalo and the domestic stock has perhaps been lost, but it is not too late to discuss the advisability of introducing the Thibetan yak, a bovine accustomed to the polar rigors of the Himalayas, and which has been tamed and used either for the purposes of the dairy or for those of draught and saddle. The body of the yak is covered with a long coat of hair, which enables it to lie down in the snow-drifts without incurring any risk of catching cold. The milk of the yak is said to be remarkably rich, and the butter possesses the admirable quality of keeping fresh for a long time.

This constant moving of camp had another object: the troops were kept in practice in taking down and putting up tents; saddling and unsaddling horses; packing and unpacking wagons; laying out camps, with a due regard for hygiene by building sinks in proper places; forming promptly; and, above all, were kept occupied. The raw recruits of the spring were insensibly converted into veterans before the close of summer. The credu