202 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



ten o'clock, and we sat down for a smoke. In 

 about twenty minutes we were once more on 

 the move, the beaters descending to our left. 

 A little further on we put up a covey of stone- 

 hens — the elevation at this time of the year being 

 a considerable one for them — and then we reached 

 the first stand. The scenery at this point began 

 to be grand, although occasional fog-wreaths hid 

 it at intervals. We were standing on a rugged 

 mass of stone overhanging a gorge filled with 

 beech scrub. Beyond this again came the great 

 ravine, on the other side of which our friends 

 were waiting. The rest of the picture must be 

 filled in with rocks, gullies, and forest, and with 

 several high precipices — the favourite refuge of 

 the chamois, especially from wolves. Above us 

 was another ravine, backed by stupendous cliffs, 

 and behind that again the hills trend back to 

 the main Yelez range. At this point we left 

 the professor, and continued our upward march. 

 We were soon amongst the snow, for we had 

 now reached an elevation of something like 2000 

 feet. 



A hundred yards further brought us to an 

 angle of the rock, and as they reached it I saw 

 Bosco and Miller, in front of me, drop like 

 setters. I crawled cautiously up to them, and 

 across the next gully, five hundred yards away, 

 I saw my first chamois. Almost at the same 



