THE KARWENDEL MOUNTAINS. 373 



It was hard work wading upwards through the snow, 

 and by the time we reached our destination I was fairly 

 tired out. Nothing was to be seen to reward us for our 

 pains. Stretching away to the right, the snowy slope 

 rose in a bend to the ridge of the mountain. We de- 

 termined to return. At this moment I observed a black 

 speck or two in the distance, motionless on the white ex- 

 panse. Presently one speck moved, and then another. 

 They were chamois. I pointed them out to Hans, who 

 asked if I would go after them. It was a great way up : 

 it would take nearly two hours. However we set off, and 

 after resting several times on the way, we got to a rock 

 behind which we thought the herd must be. Amid that 

 deathlike stillness the slightest sound would betray us ; 

 and at each step a stone rising through the snow and 

 meeting our heel risked to make our labour in vain. I 

 now advanced alone, and cautiously looked over the rock. 

 No chamois were to be seen, although the snow in front 

 was marked by their traces. The next moment a doe 

 with her kid bounded from a hollow and away over the 

 expanse. But where were the others ? I heard a whistle 

 and looked round just in time to see a buck standing at 

 gaze for a second, and then vanish. 



Thus it is with the chamois hunter : he often spends 

 hours in toiling up to a desired spot and at last gets 

 there unperceived ; the game is within reach, the wished- 

 for object attained. A moment only and his finger will 

 have pressed the trigger ; but in that short interval a 

 something occurs that defies his precaution, the game 

 is already far off, and the labours and watching of half a 

 day have been in vain. 



The magnificence of the scenery compensated me in 

 some measure for my disappointment. I had the plea- 

 sure too of falling in with a covey of ptarmigan, — a bird 



