X Cha^nois- Hunting 507 



We advanced stealthily, concealing' ourselves 

 behind the boulders, and searched valley and cliff 

 in vain for our prey. Joseph was the proud pos- 

 sessor of a telescope, mysteriously fashioned out of 

 paper and cardboard ; a pretty good one, never- 

 theless, brought from Italy by some travelling pedlar, 

 and an object of great veneration, but one which 

 failed in discovering a single chamois. Our only 

 chance now was that they might be feeding in some 

 of the smaller valleys, between the cliffs at the head 

 of the basin in which we were and the Kogle itself. 



* Feeding ! what could they be feeding on, when 

 you say yourself that you left all kind of green stuff 

 behind you long ago ? ' 



So, doubtless, thought I, too, by this time, most 

 impatient reader ; but on the screes at the head of 

 the valley Joseph showed me, for the first time, the 

 plant on which these extraordinary animals in a 

 great measure live. It has a thick, green, trilobate 

 leaf, and a flower so delicate and gauze -like that 

 one wonders how it can bear for a moment the 

 harsh storms to which it is exposed. Its petals 

 have a most curious crumpled appearance, and are of 

 the softest pink imaginable, almost transparent. As 

 for its class and order, you must go elsewhere for 

 them ; I know them not ; nor the name either 

 which the Latins would have given to it if they had 

 been aware of its existence. Joseph called it 

 gemsenkraut, or chamois-herb, and that was enough 

 for me. 



