1?EC0LLECTI0NS OF CHAMOIS HUNTING 43 



liekl liiiii, adding, witli what J^eiiz thought a guilty look, 

 ' Whatever descends into that jxrave is buried safe enouo;h.' 

 Many years before, a hunter of the (Jrisous had disappeared 

 there, leaving no trace behind. Ijcnz declares the spot 

 seemed to him to smell of human blood. 



" They next reached a valley full of blocks of stone, 

 and shut in by perpendicular rocks. In clambering over 

 some fragments, Colani caught sight v\^ some object, threw 

 himself down behind a stone, and motioned to Lenz to 

 d(i the same. He made no answer to his companion's 

 in(|uiries, l)ut looked up through his glass and muttered 

 an imprecation, at the same time clenching his fist con- 

 vulsivel}'. Lenz perceived at length a human figure high 

 u]> among the rocks. The fierce expression and angry 

 words of his guide filled him with strange misgivings. 

 ' Remember I am come to shoot chamois and not men,' he 

 remarked sternl}'. After a while the strange hunter dis- 

 appeared. Up jumped Colani. ' Follow me,' he said ; 

 and they rushed at full speed up the hills, taking only ten 

 minutes to accomplish what was usually the work of half 

 an hour. They sank down exhausted for a momenl, Imt 

 presentl} tli<' str.ino-er reappeared, and Colani deliberately 

 cocked his gun and took aim at him. ' Halt,' cried Lenz, 

 pushing the weapon aside, ' 1 allow no murder before my 

 eyes.' Colani cast a terrible glance at lilm. but presently 

 gaNc him his hand and said. ' W<' will not (|uarr('l with cadi 

 other.' ^leantime his destine* I \ ictini had disappeared. 



The Engadiners have still the re})utation of — shall 1 

 say — great independence of character. Perhaps by this 

 time the attrition of all the nations has put a polish on 

 the surface, but thirty years ago, it sometimes took the 



