44 SHORT STALKS 



form of rather masterful self-assertion. I remember Herr 



G \ who afterwards blossomed into a wealthy hotel 



proprietor, but who did not then wear a Ijlack coat, exhibited 

 his dawning civilisation by announcing, in the course of 

 the tahic dlidtc, that beer was not to be drunk at dinner, 

 and that if any one wanted it he must take it in the 

 public beer saloon. Now we Britishers did not all want 

 to drink beer, for his Valteline " Montaoiier" was excel- 

 lent, but we declined to be coerced into consuming it. 

 We rose en masse from the table after soup, and adjourned 

 to the tap-room. There we solemnly drank our l)eer and 

 returned for the next course. This form of strike was suc- 

 cessful, and the bloated capitalist, who by the way was a 

 very o'ood fellow, was brought to his knees. 



On account of the local jealousy which I have hinted 

 at I have generally hunted on the Italian side of the 

 frontier, but my first expedition was near Zernetz. It 

 was a sudden thought. We were not properly equipped. 

 We used borrowed guns of the country, and naturally we 

 came back after two days, having caught nothing but bad 

 colds. There had been a heavy fall of snow ; the tracks 

 of chamois were everywhere, and though I failed to get a 

 shot, I was badly infected with the buck-fever. This result 

 was contributed to by the stirring reminiscences of my 



excellent friend Herr S of Pontresina, formerly 



President of the Graulnniden, who accompanied us on 

 that occasion. His laroe collection of chamois heads 

 testifies to the zeal with which this fine old sportsman 

 hunted them in years gone by.^ 



1 I can only remember one of these tales. He was followinrr witli one 

 companion, in the depth of winter, the bloody trail of a wounded chamois. 



