THE IBEX OF IBERIA 329 



not be open during the winter, you may, per- 

 haps, hire a villa. — Your obedient servant, 



Nothing could be clearer than this. Moreover, I 

 unearthed in the Library of the Natural History 

 Museum a long article in the Proceedings of the 

 Madrid Academy of Science, from which it appeared 

 that sufficient specimens had been obtained from the 

 Gerez Mountains to warrant Don Barbozo de Bocage 

 in forming a theory that these animals formed a 

 separate species — a theory which he afterwards 

 abandoned. 



Accordingly I sailed for Oporto in high hopes of 

 bagging an animal of decidedly more than average 

 interest — hopes which, after my arrival, were soon 

 crushed. In the first place, I found that by an 

 Act of Parliament all shooting was prohibited in 

 the Forest of Gerez, comprising a large part of the 

 range. Secondly, I was informed — whether truly or 

 not, I cannot say — that a Government reward of 

 £12 (a large sum for a Portuguese peasant) had 

 been offered for a specimen of an ibex killed in the 

 country, and that this offer had for years gone 

 begging. Thirdly, — and this time my information 

 was undoubtedly correct, — that some years previ- 

 ously an Englishman had come to Oporto on this 

 very quest, had gone to the Gerez, had employed 

 an enormous number of beaters, and spent money 

 like water without getting a shot. My informant 

 added that the beaters claimed to have seen three 

 ibex; but under the circumstances I should say the 

 animals in question were probably roe-deer. 



Lastly, Dr Bernardo Ayres, Professor of Zoology 



