118 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



of one, and that cannot well be avoided. You have to 

 step along a very steep and narrow ledge ; and then a 

 place is to be crossed, — you have to spring across it, — 

 which, if not sure-footed and free from giddiness, one 

 could hardly manage, for below it goes down a tremen- 

 dous depth. That is the only place you are absolutely 

 obliged to pass, and there you must go, for by no other 

 way is it possible to get out." 



"There is a ridge, too, is there not, which is very 

 narrow, with a precipice on each side ?" * 



" Yes, but that is not much : it is narrow, but if you 

 are only steady, you may walk across it easily." 



" Not so easily though," I said ; " a friend of mine 

 walked along it, but after a few steps he was obliged to 

 sit down, and with his legs dangling on each side to 

 cross it astride. Did you ever meet any poachers on 

 the Plau Berg, Maxl ?" I asked. 



" Yes," said he ; " I and two assistant-foresters were 

 on the mountains, and we saw seven men, Tyrolians, all 

 armed and looking for chamois. We called to them, 

 and off they ran. One of them however I overtook; 

 I kept his gun, hat, and powder-horn, and then let him 



go." 



" But as there were seven of them, I wonder they 

 made off." 



" Oh," said he, laughing, " the Tyrolians are afraid 

 of the Bavarian bullets : they never hold out, but di- 

 rectly they espy one of us they take to their heels. 

 Some years since a Tyrolian was missed : he had come 

 over, it seems, and had been on the Plau Berg, but he 

 never returned. His friends came and searched for 

 him, and made every possible inquiry, but all in vain; 

 he was never heard of again. Well, since then the 

 Tyrolians have grown shy : they think perhaps that if 



