On the IVIU Goat of the Alps. 249 



its, birth it can conceal itfelf among the rocks *. When the 

 female is delivered Ihc licks its eyes, head, and neck; teaches 

 it, at an early period, to leap ; and bellows on it the care of an 

 attentive and vigilant mother. While iiickling, (he remains 

 in the holes of the rocks. She calls lier young by bleating ; 

 but the hunters think th,ey have remarked that it is by gef- 

 tiires that Ihc ufually exprelTes her defires. 



As it ofien happens that flocks of wild goats, chamois, do- 

 meflic goats, and (beep, pafture at a fmall diilance from each 

 other, 1 endeavoured to find whether thefe animals fonie- 

 times intermixed and produced in that (iate of liberty ; but 

 I could obtain no certain information refpefting this fad, 

 which would be of great importance to natural hiftory. It 

 only appears that the wild goat and the chamois never inter- 

 mix in their natural ftate. 



The beft time for hunting the wild goats is towards the 

 end of fummer, and in autumn, in the month of Augull and 

 September. It is then that they are in beR condition. This 

 fpecies of hunting is exceedingly dangerous and fatiguing, 

 and therefore can he undertaken only bv the inhabitants of 

 the mountains. The hunters, bcfide? rcfolution to look dowa 

 without fear from the greateft heights, mull have fuflicient 

 addrefs and fleadinefs of foot to get oatof diihcult palTes, and 

 to take accurate aim. 'I'hey muit alio be endowed with great 

 ftrength and vigour to endure hunger, cold, and the greateft 

 fatigue. The moft determined hunters relidc in the moun- 

 tains of the Lower Valais : ahnoll all the peafai.ts of Sorvsn f 



foilow 



■' A hunter one day furprifed a female chamois while bringing to; th 

 her voun;,' one on a rock : afentimcnt plactd by nHtiire in the brcaft of all 

 markii'd retained ni^ arm, and presented him from kiiiing her: he viewed 

 this intcrefting fpeftaeh. for I'ome moments, and fa.v tht. mother lick her 

 kid. He then prepared to fire, but the chamois and her young one bo;h 

 inftantly difipj crucd, and concealed themfclves among the r^cks. 



t The viil.igu- of Servan is lituat' d in the moiinta us of the Lower Va- 

 lais, and at the didancc of two or three leagues from Mi^rtigni : its fitua- 

 tion is the wildtft and moft piftardiiui- I ever faw It llands on t'.'.e de- 

 clivity of a chni' of mountains which borders on the weft that p n of the 

 valley of Tricnt, which is only a continuation of that ftf ^ifine, in I'pper 

 Faucigiiy. At the bottom of this valley runs the water of IJcr.ird with a 

 roaring noife, and, uniting itfClf to tlic Tricnt, afiumes its nime. Tor- 

 rents, which da(h down on every fide from the fummiis of the mountains 

 in fupcrl) cafcades, contribute to enlarge itsftrfam. That filcnce of nnr ire, 

 that calmncfs, at the fame time awful and dt;lig!uful, which is experiinced 

 in the middle of a forcft duiing a line i'ummer's nigiit, never pievaiK in 

 this abode. The air is continuaily agii.iied liy the noifc of ihe torri.nt 

 wliich flows through ihe middle of ibe villey. and by ihai t;f ihe luiriic- 

 rous cifcadts whieli join it. Rut this contiinul and hollow roaring of th« 

 water ii often incualcd by the iiMibh'g dov.n of larjje iiialTLS, ;aul the fall 



of 



