20 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



valley on the opposite side to beat, and make up for 

 small numbers by great noise. All this makes the 

 game very wild, as often as not they break back, and 

 the chance of any particular gun getting a shot is 

 very small. The largest bag I ever heard of, was a 

 party of twelve guns getting four sheep, six deer, and 

 some boars in five days. Eed deer are found on the 

 same ground as the moufflons, and usually break down- 

 hill. No fallow deer are found near Gennargentu. 

 These used to be found in the south-west corner of 

 the island, near Pula. 



October is the best time to hunt the moufflons, but 

 is not so healthy as December. After October, in 

 the mountains, it freezes every night, though the 

 days are warm. 



The game laws in the southern half of Sardinia 

 (the province of Cagliari) differ from those in the 

 northern (the province of Sassari). In the former all 

 shooting ends on the first day of February. In the 

 latter partridge may not be killed after the last day of 

 December, but everything else up to the end of March. 

 The best moufflon ground lies in the southern pro- 

 vince. As a matter of fact, the game laws are not 

 enforced. The greater part of the moufflons are killed 

 in April (when they have young) by the shepherds, who 

 all carry guns, and who remain near the coast with 

 their flocks during the winter. Pigs semi- wild, and 

 resembling the wild boar, which also abounds are 

 found all the year round in the mountain forests, and 

 are frequently shot in mistake for the latter. Snipe 



