288 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



tiful in death she lay, for it was a female or nanny, 

 the white beard draggling in the water, and the 

 snowy fleece soaked by the stream, and contrasting 

 with the black curving horns ; and so close and dense 

 its hair that the animal seeks the coldest spots in 

 summer time, and suffers nothing from the winter's 

 frost, the strong legs and sharp supple hoofs designed 

 for climbing where an eagle would scarce find place 

 to perch. 



To convey myself and rifle back safely to camp was 

 as much as I could manage, while Jack tied the 

 severed head to his waist, and before dark there 

 remained time for the men to make a second trip for a 

 load of meat. The next morning at daybreak I 

 hunted on the opposite side of our ridge. Eain had 

 set in, and the character of the ground was exceed- 

 ingly dangerous ; upright couloirs of smooth rock 

 alternated with lines of cliffs, hollows, and steep 

 slopes, with dense vegetation, overshadowed by 

 spruces ; beyond fresh tracks of bears, no signs of 

 game were visible. 



The large amount of meat George and Jack de- 

 voured by impaling cabobs of it, and roasting on a 

 stick, was a prodigy. Impatient of kindling a fire, 

 I observed them on another occasion content with 

 merely warming keeches of raw and solid flesh under 

 their naked armpits, as though to impart once more 

 some vital warmth to the lifeless meat before chewing 

 and masticating. Tough to the teeth was the goat, 

 and goaty to the taste, and I confined myself to deer 



