WINTER OX THE MOL'NTAIXS. G3 



he did the hardships of mountaineering; and I 

 don't think he would have given much for the 

 finest ram in the Elbruz mountains if it had 

 to be procured at the expense of so much hard 

 fare and hard work as we went througfh for 

 nothing. But if their hunters' life is a hard 

 one, what a terribly hard life must the moun- 

 tain goats' be, high up in the utter barrenness 

 of the most inaccessible peaks, alone with the 

 ice and snow, winds and tempests ! 



The Svans tell you that in the winter the 

 tur is so starved that he eats his own lono- 

 coat off Ms back, and comes down in the spri no- 

 gaunt, starved, and bald. In stormy weather, 

 when the mountains are hidden in snow or 

 .sleet, instead of coming down to the warmer 

 valleys, the tur goes straight away to his lair 

 on the very highest peak of his native moun- 

 tain, where, safe from the approach of his 

 enemies, he is content to face the bitter- 

 ness of the weather close huddled with his 



