234 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



I left them in the packs, and we started. Our road 

 sloped gently upwards, and was, for a bridle-road 

 in this country, wonderfully good. It led through 

 a good-sized Bogurnilite cemetery, otherwise there 

 was nothing of interest. At the end of nearly two 

 hours we reached the head of a deep gorge, almost 

 entirely surrounded by castellated rocks, the snow 

 lying deep between and below them. Our guide 

 pointed up and said, " DivoTcoze" and certainly it 

 looked likely enough ground for chamois. By the 

 way, the local name for chamois literally means 

 wild goats ; and it is just worthy of remark that 

 among the tame goats here I have come across 

 specimens ridiculously like chamois in colouring, 

 face markings, etc. Still, I cannot believe that 

 it would be possible for antelope and goat to inter- 

 breed, still less have a fertile offspring. The 

 opportunity would not be wanting, for in the 

 rutting season of the chamois (here last week of 

 October and onwards) the flocks are just feeding 

 off the lowest of the summer pasture, and the 

 chamois are also low down. I have repeatedly 

 known the two animals to be within half a mile 

 or less at this season. 



Our way now lay up the northern slope of the 

 ravine, and wound up by a new and excellent bridle 

 path (actually with bridges over the watercourses !) 

 to the pass itself, which is about three thousand 

 feet high — an altitude which made us feel the cold 



