X C J laniois- Hunting 523 



point, and there, at the end of it, hopping fearlessly 

 on the shivered mountain-side, scratching its ear 

 with its hind-foot, and nibbling daintily the scattered 

 bits of gemsejikraut that sprang up between the 

 stones, stood fearless and free — a chamois ! 



After watching him with intense interest for some 

 moments we drew back, scarcely daring to breathe, 

 and, sheltering ourselves behind a large stone, held a 

 council of war. It was evidently impossible to 

 approach him from where we were ; we could not 

 have moved ten steps towards him without the 

 certainty of being discovered ; our only chance was 

 to get above him and so cut him off from the higher 

 ranges. Crawling backwards, we managed to place 

 a low range of rock between ourselves and the cliffs, 

 and then making a wide sweep, we reached their 

 base at some distance from where the chamois was 

 feeding. 



After examining the precipice for some time, we 

 found that the only mode of access to its summit, 

 here some three or four hundred feet above us, was 

 by a sort of ravine, what would be called in the 

 Swiss Alps a cheminee^ a species of fracture in the 

 strata, the broken edges of which would give us 

 some hold for foot and hand. At its upper termina- 

 tion we could see the end of a small glacier, slightly 

 overhanging the cliff, from which a small stream 

 leaped from ledge to ledge, only alive in the last 

 hour or two of sun-warmth, giving promises, which 

 certainly were faithfully fulfilled, of additional 



