204 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



always dictated by the material in which it is to be 

 executed. 



It is not a little remarkable that these houses are 

 constructed according to the most scientific rules. 

 Necessity has here proved an excellent teacher : the 

 parts are put together with a mechanical knowledge 

 which, as I have learned from an experienced archi- 

 tect, is not to be improved on. Within they are dry 

 arid warm ; they have an air of comfort too, and in 

 passing one of them you think it must be pleasant 

 to dwell there, and snug and freundlich within ; and 

 even should you not see a bright winsome face at the 

 window, the forehead and brown braided hair shaded 

 by the brim of the green hat, with a golden tassel 

 pendent from it dancing in the sun, still, without 

 such inducement, you feel that you would much like 

 to enter there*. 



My guide now pointed to a high peak on our 

 right : " A year or two ago/' said he, " a peasant was 

 lost up there : he went out on the mountain, and 

 never came back." 



" Out poaching, I suppose eh?" 



* Should the reader of these remarks be curious to know the cost 

 of such buildings, it is to be computed thus : one florin per square 

 foot contained in each story, and half as much for the construction 

 of the roof. Thus a cottage forty feet long by thirty broad, and one 

 story high, would cost as follows : 40 X 30 = 1200 florins for the 

 ground-floor : the same for the first story, 2400 florins ; which, 

 with 600 for the roof, makes 3000 florins, or 250 for the whole 

 building. For this sum it could be built with a certain finish and 

 with all the decoration usually found in such cottages, The founda- 

 tions are always of stone. 



