146 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



wild nature only, where courage and physical strength 

 alone availed anything, one " dressed in a little brief au- 

 thority," expecting to curb rough and reckless natures. 

 While on the look-out the gamekeepers and gendarme 

 were surprised by thirty poachers, each armed with a 

 rifle, who at once ordered them to descend and leave 

 them to drive the game according to their pleasure. 

 "Where the numbers presented such odds, opposition 

 would have been ridiculous ; the foresters and their com- 

 panion therefore had no alternative but to return home, 

 and announce that the intended hunt must be postponed. 



These grand hunts in the mountains are very interest- 

 ing, on account of the immense quantity and variety of 

 game that is often seen, besides the opportunities af- 

 forded of observing the habits and movements of the 

 various animals when influenced by fear, surprise, or be- 

 wilderment. At early morning the keepers and their 

 scouts are at the appointed places on the mountains, and 

 at a certain time — at the hour when it is calculated the 

 several sportsmen have reached their stations — they are 

 all on the move. Here and there a stone is let drop ; 

 further on a young mountaineer will pass along the per- 

 pendicular descent, holding on by the trusty latschen, in 

 order to drive out the chamois, and also to reach a spot 

 inaccessible in any other way. 



On such a day perilous places are passed. Each ^ne 

 takes an interest in the work, anxious that the day's sport 

 should be satisfactory ; and as the chamois love to lurk 

 in the wildest retreats, and nooks guarded by precipices, 

 if the men do their work well they are sure to be led 

 along some dangerous passes. None of course is will- 

 ing to lag behind or avoid the peril, but, trusting to 

 his steady foot and unreeling brain, each dares whatever 

 may come in his way. Thus led on by an adventurous 



