12 SHORT STALKS 



uf five or six houses, was six miles oif. This Cdntonwra 

 contained a fairly comfgrtable room, reserved for the use 

 of the engineer of the road on his periodical visits, and 

 this, l)y leave of the head official at CVigliari, we used. 

 It was furnished with a rough table and two camp bed- 

 steads, and we soon felt quite at home. The two cantonieri 

 quartered here had each his separate tenement under the 

 same roof, and as their abodes contained the only fire- 

 places, we had to mix a great deal in the family circle. 

 I daresay we were as great a nuisance to them as they 

 were to us, l)ut we made very free with the family hearth, 

 and were always greeted with a friendly invitation to take 

 the warmest place. Here every evening we had a jovial 

 hunting symposium, as we dried ourselves and our tele- 

 scopes. The man liimself, with his wife and progeny, 

 retired at night to an inner room ; but the hospitality of 

 the kitchen was extended indifferently to carabinieri — 

 several of whom slept there every night — goats, dogs, and 

 casual wayfarers. I used to get up early, and it w^as 

 always a difficulty to pick my way to the fireplace across 

 the floor, which was literally covered with the sleeping 

 figures. As soon as w^e saw these surroundings, we of 

 course expected to be devoured ; but during our stay of 

 four weeks I only once caught a flea, and that was a very 

 little one — in fact, a mere kid, not worth hunting. Per- 

 haps they w^ere hibernating, and in warmer weather this 

 kind of caccia miiiht be more livelv. 



We had added to our party two Sards — Gigi and 

 Enricetto — -reputed to be knowdng hunters. They were 

 cheery companions and w^illiug workers, and never lost 

 their tempers, but their ideas of the art of venerie differed 



