36 SPORT IN EUROPE 



chamois is awaited. Trying- to the novice's nerves, as few other 

 moments, is the necessarily quick choice of the best beast out of 

 the Httle band as it fleetly sweeps past his post. And even betting 

 can safely be indulged that the beast that looked so big, and which 

 one felt positive was a buck, turns out to be a doe, when it lies 

 before one stark and dead. The difference between adults of the 

 two sexes is so insignificant that it takes long practice to tell them 

 asunder, and even the oldest hand occasionally makes mistakes. 



Driving chamois disturbs the ground very much, and should not 

 be indulged in more than once every year, or the ground will rapidly 

 deteriorate. In many of the large shoots certain portions are left 

 undriven in alternate years, and in some very extensive preserves the 

 same stretch is taken every three years only. The number of beaters 

 required for such drives is great, often a hundred sturdy young 

 fellows, all picked climbers, being employed on these occasions. 



What is called "movin"-" chamois harasses the "round less than 

 driving. It is done by letting two or three men walk, without 

 making any unnecessary noise, over those portions of the ground 

 where, for one reason or another, stalking is not advisable. The 

 guns are posted in much the same way as for driving, the shooting 

 being easier, for the game comes slowly, not being frightened by any 

 hubbub. Another method is to walk with the "movers," either above 

 or below them, according to the wind, for the latter is the one im- 

 portant feature in the circumventing of chamois. An unexpected 

 veering of the breeze, a by no means infrequent occurrence in the 

 mountains, where it generally precedes every change of the weather, 

 will render the most carefully planned drive quite abortive. By 



