THE CHAMOIS. 91 



like a fan, a white line is seen to border the black sur- 

 face, and presents a pretty appearance. The longer 

 the hair the more it is esteemed for this purpose. 



The eye of the animal is large, dark, and intelligent ; 

 it is full of animation, but this, in its expression of 

 keen watchfulness, is the animation of fear. It carries 

 its head erect, and its graceful ears pointed, as if pre- 

 pared against surprise. 



The horns, which are black, rise from the head just 

 above and between the eyes ; they are round and 

 rougher at the base, but incline somewhat to flatness 

 towards the top, which is smooth and polished. They 

 do not stand up perpendicularly, but slant forwards 

 at a right angle with the forehead ; their points, which 

 are very sharp, being bent back and downwards. 

 This feature is not peculiar to the buck alone ; there 

 is however considerable difference between the horns 

 of the male and female, which often assists the sports- 

 man in distinguishing the two. The horns of the male 

 chamois are thicker and altogether stronger-looking 

 than those of the female ; and instead of diverging 

 from each other in so straight a line as hers generally 

 do, their outline describes a slight curve as they rise 

 upwards and apart from each other. But a still more 

 striking characteristic of the buck is, that the points 

 of his horns are bent much more inwards than those 

 of the doe; hers form a semicircular curvature to- 

 wards the back, while his, turning over abruptly, 

 form rather a hook. This gives the head quite 

 another expression ; it has something more resolute 



