THE WILD GOAT, &c. 385 



is" very laborious; for dogs are almoU uielefs in 

 this kind of hunting. It is alfo fometimes dange- 

 rous: When the animal finds himfelf hard puih- 

 ed, he gives the hunter a violent blow With hli 

 head, and often throws him over a precipice ■ 

 Though not fo'ftrong as the wild bucks, the 

 chamois goats are equally active f. They are 

 Vol. VI. B b more 



manner ; for their quarrels are more formidable. The buck 

 ftrikes fo furioufly with his head, that he often breaks the 

 legs of thofe whom he attacks; and, if he runs a man againll 

 a tree, or throws him down on the ground, death is infalli- 

 bly the confequence. Such is the nature of the buck, that, 

 though a ftrong man gives him a blow on the back with a 

 bar of iron, the animal's fpine does not break. In theiealbn 

 of love, his neck fwells prodigiouily : And, though he falls 

 from a height often fathoms, he receives no injury. 



The buck called Vjarus is ol the fame figure with the pre- 

 ceding, and is not larger than the domeilic hc-goat* His na- 

 ture is the fame with that of the wild buck.— -Like the 



hag, both come in feafon about All- Saints-day, and they 



ihould be hunted till that period arrives. When they 



can find no other food in winter, they eat the leaves of the 

 pine-tree, which are always green. Their (kin, when pro* 

 perly dreifed, is an excellent defence againft the cold ; for, 

 when the hair is outmoil, neither cold nor rain can pene- 

 trate it. Their flefh is not very Wholefome; for it produces 



fevers. — The hunting of the buck is not very pleafant ; 



for we can neither accompany the dogs on foot nor on horfe- 

 back; Gajlon Phobias, V'ftieVte <te DofdlhuXi p. 6 :\ 



* Ibex veilatorem expecla'c, et folicite ol i: an inter 



ipfum et rupem minimum interft fpatium ; nam fi villi dum- 

 taxat iritertueri (ut ita Ibcjuafj pbfiit; irhpetu facto fe tranf- 

 fert et venatcrem impulfurn praecipitat ; Stumpfiiii apud Gefner^ 



?■ 3°5- 



+ M. Perroud, undertaker of the chfyftal mine: in the Al - 

 brought a live chamois to Versailles, and gave us the follcw- 

 Ecellent remarks on the nature znd manners of this ?ui- 



.Ti 



