220 SPORT IN EUROPE 



best preserves is that of Aprica, to which I myself belong. The 

 hotel at the pass of Aprica is reached in six hours' drive from 

 Sondrio, in Valtellina ; and, when the mules are loaded, another 

 three hours bring the party to the huts, which are built at an 

 altitude of about 6,000 feet. My own favourite is the one just 

 beneath the glacier of the Piz Torena, 9,000 feet high. There are 

 two species of chamois : the peak chan^iois, tall and woolly, with 

 grey coats and having longer horns, frequenting the peaks and 

 glaciers, and the wood chamois, smaller and more thick set, darker- 

 skinned and carrying shorter and more curved horns, and found 

 in the pine woods along the mountain side. It is unnecessary to 

 add that the former species is the more attractive to the sportsman. 



Chamois live in herds. The rutting season lasts from the 

 beo'innino- of November throuQ-hout December, and is the best for 

 shooting the old bucks, which are then more easy to approach. 

 Chamois choose for their dwellings the most inaccessible parts of 

 the mountains, and feed on grasses, rhododendrons and shoots of 

 the mountain broom that grow plentifully in those localities. Each 

 flock has one or two guides. They feed in early morning and in 

 the evenings, and between eleven and three they lie down in the 

 shade, generally in places where it is impossible to get within 

 shooting range. When you see a flock resting at midday, the best 

 thing is to post yourself in some pass commanding tlie road to the 

 feeding ground, towards which, on awaking, they are likely to move, 

 and you must be patient enough to await them there for perhaps 

 three or four hours. The herd always travels under the guidance 

 and care of an old male or old female. When a chamois is alarmed. 



