150 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



Such events as these give a zest to the Jager's life : 

 they afford him the highest excitement, and he prefers, 

 I am sure, a moderate number of poachers to having 

 none at all. Would a sailor so love a sea-life were there 

 no danger of tempest and wreck ? It is the perils of 

 the deep that work the charm. It was the saying of a 

 young gamekeeper — one whom the poachers had not 

 spared, for he had been so beaten by them that he was 

 nearly killed — "Without poachers a Jager's life were 

 nothing \ 33 



In going along we met one of the keepers, who wished 

 us good-day as he passed ; my companions told me that 

 a few years ago this man had shot a poacher whom he 

 met on the mountain, adding, " The ball struck him 

 in the very middle of his forehead." He spoke of the 

 circumstance as though it were a target at which his 

 comrade had aimed. 



From the Fall to the Vorder Riss the character of the 

 scenery is profound sadness. At last the road leads 

 through a pine- wood — almost black, so dark its colour ; 

 when suddenly in the distance are signs of human habi- 

 tation, of care and culture, and in another moment the 

 house of the head-forester appears. 



Opposite rise the Karwendel mountains, where the 

 Isar has its source, and on the right the summit of 

 the Zug Spitz is seen. It is a lonely spot, but the 

 snowy peaks impart grandeur to all within sight of 

 them, and in their sharp outline there is no monotony. 

 Nor does the desolateness of the high mountains im- 

 part melancholy, as it is in keeping with the wildness; 

 the vastness of the forms around fills the mind ; their 

 grandeur however does not overwhelm, but elevates it, 

 and leaves no room for anything like fear or sadness. 

 One feeling only you are unable to escape — it creeps 



