KKrOl.l.KC'l'lONS OF CHAMOIS HU.N'l'lXO 71 



US. and sttiiiil \vliif>tliin'- jukI staiiii)ino-. Once more — click 

 — l)iit no ex}>losion except a inaledictorv one. The next 

 (-lay 1 went to I he \ al i-h'l Aqua, .so called because there is 

 scarcely an\' water in it, only a waste of loose stones. 

 Even the little !:;lacier which fills its head is covered with 

 them and looks ink\' hlack. Near the foot <^\' it we spied 

 eight chamois. It was necessary to descend and cross the 

 valley below them, and then mount the slopes till we were 

 far above them, and trv to come down a ouHv : but this 

 was a noisy proceeding-, as stones kept hopping down in 

 Iron I (jf us. They became suspicious and began moving 

 ui) the edo-e of the olacier, we skirtimj; along high above 

 them on the look-out for a chance to cut in in front of 

 them. At last a favourino* couloir took us down to 

 within a little of the olacier. But bv this time a lii-ht 

 mist had driven up, and we had a ditliculty in making 

 them out amono- the rocks. Chamois, however, can see 

 thiough anything less thick than pea-soup, and the 

 moment we looked over they picked up our heads against 

 the skv and began whistling. For the life (^f me T could not 

 make them out, so that they put t'lilly two huinlred yards 

 between us before I got a chan<-e. Then <iiie <>\' them ran 

 a little wav on to the glacier to get a better view of us, 

 and cf-avQ me a clear sioht of him aLiainst the snow. It 

 was an almost impossible distance, but it was ni\- last 

 chance. The hammer Icll — click, bang I — the cartridge 

 huDs: fire again, I think it was a hundred to one against 

 that shot. What was mv astonishmoit. th(>refore. when 

 he reared up on lii> hind -legs, ran a tew yards, and fell 

 dead. 



The old "solitaires," who are males of an unsociable 



