THE CHAMOIS. 



pi-.--ipi.-e- c.n uliirli it dwells. This opinion is, however, entirely erroneous, the horn* 

 intended fur the same mysterious purpose, which they serve when placed upon the head of tin- 

 linker, koodoo, or any other Aiit.-l..^.. In descending a pr.-.-ipitoiis n k. tl..- < 'hai.i.,1- i- 

 greatly aided by the false hoofs of the hinder feet, whit -h ii hitches ujion every little irregiil 

 in the stony surface, ami which seem t., retard its progress a> it slid. - d..w n wards, guide 

 the sharp hoofs of the fore-feet, which are placed closely together, and pushed well in advance 

 <.f ill.- body. Tims flattened against tin- rock, the Chamois slides downwards until it comes t.. 

 a ledge brood enough to permit it to repose for a while l*-fore di-M-.-n.lini; farther. In this 

 mamn-r tin- active creature w i 1 1 n..t h.-sii:it.- to descend some tw-nt\ or thirty yards al>-i:_' 

 the face of an almost i-ii-ii<iii-nhu- clitT, \-\n- sure to make good it footing on the first 

 broad ledge that may present itself. 



Although it is a very swift animal when upon level ground, anl i> unHiiqNUMed in travers- 

 ing tin- precipitous Alpine pane* of its native home, it make-, l.ut a poor progress upon 

 smooth ice, and in spite of ita sharply-jMiinted hoofs, .slips and -lid-- alxmt n\*>i\ the glassy 

 Mil-face as awkwanlly as any ordinary animal. 



The Chamois is one of the most wary of Antelopes, and possesses the |mu,-r of seeming 

 iiii-nkiii'l at an almost incredible di-tanc.-. K\.-n tin- old and half-obliterated fiMitmarks which 

 a man has made in tin- MI.. A an- -utlicicnt to startle the sensitive senses of tin's animal, which 

 luw leen olwerved to stop in mid career down a mountain side, and inbound away at right 

 angles to its former course, merely liecause it had come across the track which had lieeii left 

 by the steps of some mountain tr.i\-ll-r. Lake all animals which live in herds, however small, 

 they always depute one of their number ti act as .sentinel. They are not. however, entirely 

 dependent on the vigilance of their picket, but are always on the alert to take alarm at the 

 least suspicious .scent, ~: Ji'. 01 KNOd, :MI<! ..... MI m uiii.-.i i.- '!,. ii hars to the! I comrades b\ a 

 jdi-u liar warning whistle. As soon as this sound is heard, the entire herd lake t.. tlight. It 

 is worthy of notice, that the sentinel must possess the power, not only of aiun.un.-ini: danger 

 to its friends, but also of indicating the direction from which it come-.. Fact- of this nature, 

 of which there are abundance on record, prove that although the .sounds of animal \ 

 appear to us to be without definite signification, they yet ios-es- the capability of communi 

 eating ideas \ others of the -am.- s]x-cies. 



When th.-ir attention is aroused by anything suspicious, they have a habit of gazing 

 fixedly in the direction of the object which has excited their alarm, and will remain still, a- if 

 carved out of the very rock on which they stand, halting in one fixed attitude for an almost 

 incredible length of time. 



Their ears an- as acute as their nostrils, so that there are few animals which are more 

 ilitlicnlt of approach than the Chamois. Only those who have leen trained to climb the giddy 



iits of the Alpine mountains, to traverse the most fearful precipices with a quiet pulse 

 and steady head, to exist for days amid the terrible solitudes of ice, rock, and snow, and to 

 sustain almost every imaginable hardship in the pursuit of their game, only these, or in very 

 ran- in-tano- BKM vho ii;i\.- I Htnal ajUftldl f-r '!' -!""'. .-Hid Mt, in ..ii-.-. JH.-IM-.-. -..on 

 initiated into its requisite accomplishment-, .-an hope even to come within long rifle range of 

 a Chamois when the animal is at large upon its native cliffs. There are many familiar tales of 

 the Alpine hunts, and of the terrible privations and hair-breadth escapes of the hunters, but 

 as these histories relate rather to the man than to the beast, we can only give them a passing 

 reference. 



The Chamois is, when captured young, capable of domestication, and is gifted with very 

 amusing habits, and possessed of infinite cuHo-ity. as is generally the case with all animals 

 whose nervous system is peculiarly sensitive. The. following account is taken from the pages 

 of the "Annals of Sporting," and alludes to four of these Antelopes, a buck, a doe, and two 

 kids, which wen- iin]>orted into England: 



"Originally, they \\ere the property of Mr. Lowther, of Wolvesey, who. during his 

 g&our among the Alps, was determined to try the ,-\|-rim.-nt of domesticating some of these 

 creatures, hitherto c.'n-iden-d. by the native-, the most difficult t< tai ...... f all animals in that 



Hi'iunt-tinous region. He may be said to have succeeded ; for they were gradually familiarized 



