230 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



longer range; and since all these reforms have taken 

 place, the rifle has not once been in requisition ; so we 

 have a double interest this time in going out with the old 

 friend, and in seeing how he comports himself in his 

 altered condition. He will do his duty, without doubt ; 

 and if the arm that holds him be but steady, there can 

 be no fear about the result. 



Most persons, I suppose, quite well understand the af- 

 fection of the rider for his horse, whether that rider 

 be Arab, fox-hunter, or cavalry soldier. They find it 

 natural that the animal, which has contributed to the 

 pleasures of the one, or shared the dangers of the other, 

 should be looked upon in the light of a friend, and be 

 cherished accordingly. And they are right in thinking 

 so. The steed shares the excitement of his master, and 

 the natural ardour of each is a bond of union between 

 them. But will they be able to comprehend the 

 fondness of the mountaineer for his rifle, between which 

 and himself there can be no such sympathy ? Yet affec- 

 tion he does feel for it : he and it have passed many a 

 pleasant hour together, and it has been the means of pro- 

 curing him the most exciting joys. Why, his very fame 

 as a good shot, is it not bound up with his rifle ? and do 

 not the two, like loving companions, share with each 

 other the praises and renown ? And a stronger cause for 

 attachment still — has he not endured manifold disap- 

 pointments, many a vexation, many a sad failure, with 

 no earthly thing near him in which he took an interest 

 or for which he felt companionship, save his rifle ? 

 For should he have missed a stag or a chamois, and 

 in all the bitterness of disappointment and self-reproach 

 sits down alone to think over the event and explain 

 how it happened, the sportsman, if he have a grain 

 of sense or justice in his composition, will never at- 



