RECOLLECTIONS ol' CHAMOIS HUNTIXO 49 



iiiovit;il)le row (ivor tlic Mil. To put ii[> ;it tlio \illage 

 iiiN'oIvod ci loii»>- walk lo oiir huutm2; uTOund. and we 

 ireuerullv camix'tl in one or oilier oH the o-oat-herd.s' rciu2fc 

 liuts. suppleini'ii It'll hy a small ridge tent. 



( hir faxoiiritc caiiii) was aliout six miles down tlie 

 ra\iiie, oil a little g'reeii |ilatrorm raised somewhat aKove 

 the riser, in which there wen' some ver}' iiiee hathiiiL,^ 

 pools, ('lose by was a bridge, which was coiiveiiieiit, as 

 it enabled lis to spy bolli sides of the valley from tlic 

 neighbourhood of canij). 



In those early da}'s my principal hunter was Spinas, 

 a lean old man. who lived on the Julia Pass, with long 

 black hair, a. shrivelled face stained to a dark chocolate 

 eolour. and a great hooked nose like some bird of prey, 

 which was strictly in character. He was \ery poor, but 

 that was owing to his passion for hunting, whicli he 

 preferred to more profitable occupations. In the wintei- 

 he would sit up on moonlight nights to shoot loxes. 

 Sometimes he set fall-traps for marmots. ]!<' was always 

 oatehino- something, but he once told nie that the hardest 

 work of all was trout-hshing. To my surprised im|niry 

 he re[)lied that the hotels will onl\- buy them ali\-e. ;ind 

 that involved carrying on his back a large enclosed 

 trou<di, shaped like a eoHin. wliii-h had to he constantly 

 replenished with fresh water. He was a jiast master in 

 the science of chamois hunting, but a terril)le tyrant to his 

 Herr, and very severe when the latter missed, on which 

 occasions he would sometimes refuse to work any more ; 

 h.r. like most of the Engadiners. he was verv indei)endent, 

 not to say boorish. Fortunately for nie he had ;i touching 

 faith in the accuracy of my shooting, but coml)incd with a 



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