THE LARGE GAME OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 441 



inands the depths beh)w, and, if he descry ibex, is enabled to 

 approach without the warning of the wind. Should he see 

 none, he imitates the shrill cry of the female, and not unfre- 

 quently a ram is tlius betrayed by the whistle of love. The 

 ibex-hunter must be provided with lungs of leather, a steady 

 hand and eye, and untiring limbs. 



The best time for ibex-shooting is diu-ing July and August, 

 when camping-out on the higher regions is practicable and even 

 enjoyable. The snow-storms and frozen state of the snow, 

 render the winter- and sj^ring-shooting both dangerous and 

 uncertain. 



When ibex are known to be frequenting the lower valleys and 

 chasms of the sierra, guns are concealed among the broken rocks in 

 the higher regions commanding the ravines by which the monteses 

 are accustomed to ascend. Then the beaters enter from below, 

 shots and \inearthly yells disturl) the timid animals, and slowly 

 they ascend the mountain-side, listening ever and anon as they 

 look down from some shelving ledge or giddy point. So slowly, 

 indeed, do they sometimes come that the hunter may contem- 

 plate them for minutes before he can despatch his bullet. At 

 some vital spot it must take eifect or the trophy is lost. Such 

 is the vital resistance of the wild-goat that unless killed out- 

 right he will manage to gain some inaccessible precipice, and 

 there on a hanging ledge give up his life. 



Chamois (Antilope rupicajjra). 

 Spanish : Eebeco, Sario. 



The stronghold of the chamois — the Izard of the French 

 hunters, Mebeco of Cantabria, and Sario in Arragon — is in the 

 Pyrenees, and their western prolongation, the Cantabrian ranges 

 of Santander, the Asturias, &c. They are specially abundant 

 near the Picos de Europa. This animal is not found on any of 

 the Cordilleras of Central or Southern Spain. Mr. Packe's state- 

 ment that he saw two on a misty morning in the Sierra Nevada 

 probably arose from the similarity in size and form of the horns 

 of the young or female ibex. Chamois inhabit only the loftiest, 

 most wild and rocky mountain-smnmits, and are killed (usually 

 with large shot) in big " batidas," or drives. How they manage 

 to sustain life on these barren snow-clad heights in vnnter — 



