286 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



Pyrenees, it is surpassed in weight and horn 

 measurement by those of Austria, while, again, 

 these must yield to the noble bucks of Monte- 

 negro, Herzegovina, and the Caucasus. Like the 

 red deer, the further east it is found the bigger 

 it is. 



On the day of which I am about to speak I de- 

 cided to try the neighbourhood of the Botin, and 

 especially the two valleys below it. It was a very 

 hot morning when I left camp a little before nine. 

 My way lay through thick forest disposed in ridge 

 after ridge, many of them covered with dense young 

 beeches. After less than an hour of this, I struck 

 a wood path at which I had been aiming. This, 

 however, only went a short way in my direction ; 

 so presently I left it, crossed another ridge and a 

 large open glade, and struck yet another path. I 

 followed this till I began to feel that my breakfast 

 had been of the slightest, so sat down and dis- 

 cussed my lunch. The post-prandial pipe followed 

 this, and between the puffs I thought I heard a 

 bear roar in the forest in front. Perhaps the wish 

 was father to the thought ; at any rate, I saw no 

 sign of him afterwards, nor have I ever heard one 

 on another occasion except at night. Roar, 

 perhaps, is too fine a name to give the sound, 

 which more resembles that of a cross-cut saw, but 

 only continues a second or two, ending like a deep 

 cough. 



