THE CHAMOIS. 101 



amusing an account of how the chamois play at leap-frog 

 over the snow, says that in such cases, " when the hunter 

 can get neither forwards nor backwards, and is unable to 

 save himself by a leap, nought is left him but to fling off 

 everything, and wounding the soles of his feet cause the 

 blood to flow, so that by its stickiness he may be enabled 

 to hold himself better on the slippery rocks." 



In the ardour of pursuit, indeed, one might easily get 

 into a place whence, unassisted, it would be quite im- 

 possible ever to get out. A spot may often be seen below 

 which can be reached by a jump or by sliding downwards ; 

 but the question is, whether, when once there, it will be 

 possible to get further or back again ; for though you may 

 let yourself down the smooth rock, there is no climbing 

 up its steep surface. It is therefore necessary to be as- 

 sured of this before taking such a leap, or you may find 

 yourself, like the Emperor Maximilian, on a narrow ledge 

 of rock, at your back the smooth stone, and before and 

 below you nothing but the yielding air. 



The danger of such a proceeding is illustrated by the 

 following adventure of another chamois-hunter, Rudolf 

 Blasi of Schwanden, (born in Ennenda in Glarnerischa) . 

 One day he went out with his friend Walcher up through 

 the Sernft valley, out of which lead two of the wildest 

 and most difficult passes across the mountain-tops to the 

 valley of the sources of the Rhine. One of these towers 

 over the ice-covered point of the Tschinfel. On their 

 way they found the fresh traces of a chamois, and from 

 the direction the animal had taken they knew that if they 

 were to advance from different sides, the game would not 

 be able to escape them. They parted, therefore, agreeing 

 to meet at the Ealz Alp. Blasi soon perceived the cha- 

 mois, and in the ardour of pursuit jumped across a chasm 

 to a narrow ledge, when to his horror he remarked that 



