296 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



to the top of Pisgah, the highest point of the mountains 

 of Nebo. Though he was an old man, how must his 

 heart have swelled at what he saw, — the Jordan and the 

 groves of palms, and the fat pasturages of Basan stretch- 

 ing away into the distance; the mountains with the 

 thick oak-woods of their valleys, and on the plain the 

 herds of the Tribes, while before him he looked over 

 " The City of Palm-trees," Jericho, and away " unto 

 the great sea toward the going down of the sun :" and 

 then the remembrance that he was gazing on that earth 

 for the last time ! But, above all, how in that moun- 

 tain solitude must he have felt his loneliness ! There 

 is to me something quite overwhelming in the thought 

 of going up unto a mountain to die. It is an almost 

 superhuman act, worthy indeed of a Prophet, — of one 

 " whom the Lord knew face to face," — but is not for the 

 men of this generation. 



I sat here with my hand on my rifle for an hour and 

 a half; but the minutes did not pass laggingly : I was 

 all attention, and eye and ear were watching for the 

 slightest circumstance that might betoken the approach 

 of a chamois. Moreover I would every now and then 

 cast a look at the world at my feet, and let the grandeur 

 and the loveliness fill my heart. Fancy besides was 

 busily at work, as is ever the case with the hunter when 

 awaiting the approach of game. At such times, what 

 pleasant visions pass before his brain; what delicious 

 hopes that may be realized ! The buck I was expecting 

 was not only a good one, but a well-known one too. 

 He had been pursued by several, and all had failed 

 to obtain the prize. Many were the shots that had 

 been fired after him, but they all had missed. He 

 had become notorious by his escapes: he was quite 

 an historical personage. And should he now come — 



