GERMANY 



159 



and moreover this method has a tendency to send the game to the 

 next shoot, for the chamois Hkes undisturbed peace more dearly even 

 than most game. Given this peace, chamois multiply fairly fast. They 

 are very hardy, and have no enemies among four-footed animals. 

 The prevention of poaching is hard and dangerous work for the 

 keepers, and many a brave fellow has sacrificed his life for a bunch 

 of the prized "beard" off a good buck's back. 



This is no wonder if one bears in mind that a woodcutter will pay 

 one to two months' wages for a good beard, and value it less than the 

 one he got for himself as a young daredevil perhaps a few years ago. 

 Prices up to /; are said to have been asked for one, and paid too by 

 labouring men. The usual weapon is a -315 repeater or double rifle. 



Boar are the great enemies of all crops, and preserving them 

 clashes with the interests of an agricultural population. They are 



killed down everywhere, except in large forest tracts like 



1 L^ 1 • , •,, • / , Wild Boar. 



the bpessart, which still contains about 600 head and 



where the damage they do is of less consequence. In Brandenburg, 

 Westphalia, the Rhine Provinces, and Alsace-Lorraine they are still 

 found in a wild state, but not in great numbers, and are only preserved 

 where it is possible to do so without too great expense. Some 

 are kept in large parks, as by the P^mperor at Springe, by the King of 

 Saxony at Moritzburg, and by Prince Stolberg at Wernigerode. Pig- 

 sticking is an unknown art. Piggy is generally driven with dogs, 

 a plan that gives good sport, or without dogs in winter, when the 

 spoor can be taken in the snow. The wild boar is not protected by a 

 close time. The best weapons are a double rifle, ball-gun, or cape-gun, 

 with buckshot in the left barrel. 



