CHAPTER THE LAST. 387 



body, feeding some hours afterwards as quietly as if 

 nothing had happened. A roe is a very delicate crea- 

 ture, and can bear little ; a shot almost anywhere will 

 bring it down. I have sometimes met one in the wood 

 running away from some real or imaginary danger ; 

 and it was quite pitiable to see its condition, agitated 

 and exhausted with exertion, the exquisitely fine limbs 

 trembling beneath its body, and its flanks palpitating 

 as it gasped for breath : every movement showed how 

 little its fragile form was able to endure any unwonted 

 roughness. The chamois is less susceptible than the 

 roe ; but a wound soon makes it sicken ; when struck 

 it will immediately climb to some solitary spot, and 

 there remain. If by chance you shoot one that still 

 carries traces of a former wound, you may be sure it 

 was slight and of little importance. But chamois even, 

 as well as red-deer, often get bad falls ; and the antlers 

 of the one, and the horns of the other, frequently bear 

 evidence of a headlong tumble over the rocks. 



In old works on Venery strange stories are related 

 about the habits of animals of chase. In former days 

 the pursuit of the stag and wild-boar was a royal 

 pastime, and those animals wjiich afforded such noble 

 sport were on that account elevated to a rank above 

 the more common brutes. They were without offence 

 be it said the aristocracy of the animal creation. For 

 in barbarous times the attributes of the sovereign are 

 always exaggerated ; and, as " the fountain of honour," 

 his ennobling influence is extended to the elephant 

 that carries him, the steeds that draw his chariot, and 



2 c 2 



