﻿252 PICTORIAL MISCELLANY. 



high districts upon the s'.de of the Alps, in Switzerland, between the 

 elevated glaciers where perpetual snow is found, and the forests be- 

 low. It is not more than two and a half feet in height, with black 

 horns, crooking backwards at the tips. 



They go in herds of twenty or thirty, and feed upon the Alpine 

 pastures, which give a peculiar richness to their flesh, much 

 esteemed as venison. Their skins, too, are valuable, and, to capture 

 them, the hunters ply their hazardous employment, which carries 

 them to places of the wildest and most precipitous description. Few 

 ravines will stop the chamois. It will either scale or leap them. 

 " We have seen it," says a traveller, " leaping down a precipice, 

 sliding first the fore legs down the steep, while, with its hind feet, it 

 held the edge of the rock, till the centre of gravity was lowered as 

 far as possible, then bounding forward and alight on its hind feet 

 without any apparent effort. These descents we have witnessed to 

 the depth of more than twenty feet ; and it will not hesitate to leap 

 down even thirty." 



All the senses of the chamois are extremely acute ; and these, 

 combined with its great agility, are the guards and defence from 

 danger with which Providence has endowed this otherwise defence- 

 less animal. Its sense of smell, it is said, will enable it to perceive 

 an aggressor at a distance of two miles. It voice, when undisturbed, 

 is a kind of low bleating, but, when alarmed, it is changed into a 

 shrill blast, or whistle, which is known to the herd, and at once sets 

 them upon the alert. 



Flattery. 



ONE of the very worst kinds of deceit is flattery. You may be 

 sure that they who flatter you are not your friends. They general- 

 ly have a purpose in view : - - either to be paid back in their own 

 coin, or to gain some favor from you. In illustration of this, I will 

 relate an anecdote which I lately heard : 



A carpenter was working in his shop one morning, and on taking 

 up his axe he found it wanted grinding sadly, and having sent his 

 stone to be repaired, he set out in quest of a person who would lend 



