58 SHORT STALKS 



was tearing at the horse's head, and madly shouting to it 

 to make fresh efforts to save itself from destruction, while 

 the terrified brute, fully aware of its danger, was struggling 

 on the brink. The second charioteer had o-ot his feet 

 planted against a rock, and was holding like grim death 

 by a rope to the hinder part of the waggon. One shaft 

 was over the horse's head, and the whole was at such an 

 angle that all our goods, including our weapons, must, 

 even as it was, have tipped into the glacier torrent, wholly 

 past recovery, if we had not taken the precaution to cord 

 a big mattress on to the top of them. Rushing forward, 

 we seized every available guy rope or holding-place, and 

 presently by main force hoisted the crazy thing into stable 

 equilibrium. 



To show the al^undance of chamois in those days, I 

 may make an extract from my journal of the history of 

 two successive days, which also happened to be the first 

 days of the expedition of that year. We left Pontresina 

 at some unearthly hour, and drove to the entrance of the 

 Yal del Fain. There was a sharp frost and the little 

 stream was frozen nearly hard. AVe walked to the head of 

 the valley, seeing nothing on the way till we had crossed 

 the frontier, w^hen we almost immediately made out two 

 little lots, of two and three chamois respectively. As they 



were in diff'erent directions, R and Spinas went after 



one, while G and I with Johann tried for the other. 



Before we had gone very far these disappeared, but al)out one 

 o'clock I saw a lot of ten at a oreater distance. Just then, 

 liowever, our attention was taken oft* by seeing the other 

 party, who had come round the other side of the mountain, 

 and were sionallino- to us that there was somethinfr on 



