TO THE MOUNTAINS 



distance at which it will get scent of the beaters. 

 It is strange to remark, however, the difficulty that 

 chamois (and deer too) have in making out a sta- 

 tionary object. The chamois is a very inquisitive 

 animal, and when its curiosity is aroused will use 

 every endeavour to satisfy it. An old chamois- 

 hunter told me that on one occasion a doe, that was 

 unable to make him out, came up and actually smelt 

 his alpine-stock in her thirst for knowledge ! Of 

 course the hunter kept perfectly motionless, and the 

 wind was blowing strongly from the chamois to 

 him. 



A startled chamois, too, always stops, after run- 

 ning a little distance, to look back fixedly at the- 

 object that frightened it ; and even in a chamois- 

 drive it is very unusual for the driven animals to 

 continue their course without stopping to look about 

 them. 



We passed the night at a large roomy hotel not 

 " first-class," perhaps, in the accepted sense of the 

 expression, but scrupulously clean and comfortable. 

 What a blessing it is to be in an old-fashioned 

 establishment of this kind, and freed from that 

 abomination the modern waiter ! How much 

 nicer the waitresses look in their white aprons, and 

 how much better one is attended to, as a rule ! 



At the hotel we found our fourth " gun," the 

 Baron, already installed. We made an early start 



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