MEETING WITH POACHERS. 223 



lost our way in the wood. We waited till the moon rose, 

 and when its broad face looked in among the branches, 

 soon found the path, and in a couple of hours reached 

 the inn. Berger promised to look after my pole, and a 

 letter which I received some weeks later from the fores- 

 ter, told me he had found it : both his and mine were 

 still lying where we had put them. He added in his 

 letter: — "All my endeavours to trace this dangerous 

 band of poachers have been fruitless : I have not been 

 able to get the least clue to any of them." 



Thus ended my shooting in the mountains for 1849; 

 and I returned to town, carrying with me a rich store 

 of pleasant recollections. 



