23G SHORT STALKS 



at tlie camp, two or tliree thousand feet below. There is 

 nothino; to be done in these circumstances but to wait for 

 the morning light, when his master ascends to the spot, or 

 as near to it as he can o;et, and encourao-es him by his voice 

 to venture a leap, in which case the dog, who has really 

 as many lives as a cat, generally gets down unharmed, but 

 the eagerness of the chase sometimes leads to sudden death, 

 and I have known them to disappear altogether, leaving 

 their fote a mystery. 



The Basque Spaniards wear a kind of cloth sandal, a 

 strip of the material Ijeing 1)ound over their feet and round 

 the ankles. This gives them a remarkable clinging power 

 on rocks, and however arduous the beat, and difficult the 

 climbino- thev never shirk their task. The frontier French- 

 men affect to despise their neighl)ours over the border, 

 " Ces maudits Espagnols," are words always on their lips, 

 but this feeling is not justified by any inferiority of race — 

 quite the contrary. These mountaineers are a sturdy and 

 agile people, with an air of antique grace, which would 

 make them ver}' charming fellows indeed if it were not 

 for their al:»ominable lano-uao-e. The villao-e which is 

 situated a few miles nearer the plain, has its municipal 

 institutions tolerably complete. When strangers are in 

 the valley, a deputation, consistino of the Mayor and his 

 deputy, commonly waits upon them to bid them welcome. 

 Indeed the whole parish council, or whatever they call 

 themselves, seemed to enjoy us as much as if we had been 

 a circus. The right to sport in the valley was claimed by 

 the commune, and on one occasion the Mayor, doul)tless 

 eo;o;ed on b\' his followers, endeavoured to extort from us 

 more rent than he had himself agreed upon. The task 



