298 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



the stag, is a curious psychological phenomenon. The 

 Germans have a special name for this state, and call it 

 "Hirsch Fieber" (Stag fever). The excitement you 

 are in quite lames you. Of course it varies in degree 

 with different persons, according to temperament, and 

 the phlegmatic will probably never experience it at all. 

 In me it showed itself in the highest degree. When I 

 heard the rush of the stag among the branches, or saw 

 him approaching at a distance, my heart began to beat 

 audibly, my breath came quickly, every limb trembled, 

 and I felt half suffocated. To take a deliberate aim was 

 of course impossible, for my rifle rose and fell like a 

 bough swayed by the wind. But I remember one in- 

 stance in which a sort of magnetic influence seemed to 

 be exercised over me. I was waiting for a stag on the 

 edge of the covert. Presently I heard something rustle, 

 and the fever began; but only a kid leaped by, and I 

 was calm again. Soon after I heard the step of the 

 stag, and in another second his majestic head looked 

 forth from the green branches. On he came towards 

 me, down a gentle slope, slowly and unaware of my pre- 

 sence. The rifle had been raised when first I heard his 

 approach, and it was levelled still ; the hair-trigger was 

 set, and a breath almost would have been sufficient to 

 move the trigger ; my finger too w r as upon it, and I 

 wished to pull, yet for some cause or other I was unable 

 to do so. There I stood, the magnificent stag opposite 

 me, and I charm-struck and spell-bound. The slightest 

 movement of the finger would have been enough, but I 

 could not move it ; and only when he had disappeared, 

 did my fast-clenched teeth relax, and I drew a long- 

 breath and felt myself relieved. 



Since then I have understood the power of the snake 

 over other animals ; how by fixing its eyes on a bird or 



