THE CHAMOIS. 95 



this which makes it so very difficult to get near them. A 

 rolling stone or a spoken word at once attracts their at- 

 tention ; and they will look and listen to discover whence 

 the sound has come that breaks the silence of their moun- 

 tain solitude. For an incredibly long time they will then 

 stand gazing fixedly in one direction, quite immoveable ; 

 and if it happen to be towards something in your neigh- 

 bourhood that their attention has been attracted, you 

 must lie still and close indeed to escape their observa- 

 tion. The eyes of the whole herd will be fixed on the 

 spot in a long steady stare ; and as you anxiously watch 

 them from afar they almost look like fragments of rock, 

 so motionless are they while they gaze. You begin to 

 hope they have found no cause for alarm, when "Phew !" 

 the sharp whistle tells they have fathomed the mystery, 

 and away they move to the precipitous rocks overhead : 

 unless panic-stricken, they stop from time to time to look 

 behind; and then suddenly uttering the peculiar shrill 

 sound, again move on. 



It is true that on the mountains, where an awful si- 

 lence ever broods, the slightest noise breaking the still- 

 ness is heard with wonderful distinctness a great way off; 

 but even making allowance for this, there is sufficient 

 evidence that the senses of these animals are particularly 

 acute. If but the gentlest wave be moving in the air, 

 flowing from you to them, they at once become aware of 

 your presence, long before you may perceive them or 

 they see you. 



In the human being this particular sense is, compara- 

 tively speaking, less developed than the others.* It is 



* This 3ense of smell is developed in a very high degree in the wild 

 boar. I have often been surprised, when stealing upon one in the woods, 

 to observe how soon he has become aware of my neighbourhood. Lift- 

 ing his head, he would sniff the air inquiringly, then, uttering a short 

 grunt, make off as fast as he could. 



