THE IBEX. 



Chase of the chamois. 



and blowing long, and with great force. It 

 is also used exclusively as a signal of clanger; 

 the voice of the chamois at other times being 

 confined to a gentle bleating. 



The chamois scramble among the inaccessible 

 rocks of the country they inhabit, with the utr 

 most facility, always pursuing their course in an 

 oblique direction. The strength and elasticity 

 of their tendons are so great, that when seen at a 

 distance, bounding from one precipice to ano- 

 ther, a spectator might be almost inclined to sup- 

 pose that nature had furnished them with wings. 



The chase of the chamois is replete with diffi- 

 culty and danger. It is generally performed in 

 winter, and the most common method is to shoot 

 the animals with rifle-barrelled guns, from behind 

 some large mass of rock, or the excavations of 

 the hills. Dogs are never used on these occa- 

 sions ; as they would merely alarm without over- 

 taking, and would either provoke the objects of 

 pursuit to turn upon the hunters and throw them 

 down the precipice, or to fly off to an immense 

 distance. 



THE IBEX. 



M. DE BUFFON considers the ibex as the 

 stock from which the common goat has descend- 

 ed ; and though somewhat larger, it has certainly 

 a near resemblance to that animal. The head, 



VOL. n. NO. ix. H 



