Fourteen Thousand Feet High 215 



They were soon out of sight, but we had time to 

 see them well. They were agile, graceful little animals, 

 and climbed like monkeys ; they would measure, as 

 far as one could guess, from head to tail thirty inches. 

 Their fur was rich brown, varying to a yellow breast- 

 spot and reddish grey underneath. Their skins would 

 have been handsome. Though called " pine-martens," 

 they do not appear to have any special preference for 

 coniferous trees, except that, inasmuch as pine-trees 

 constitute the greater proportion of the forests of the 

 countries which martens inhabit, they are oftener met 

 with in them than in any other trees. 



The pine-marten, the Asiatic sable, and the 

 American sable are all three species so much alike 

 that it is difficult to distinguish between them. They 

 live in woods and rocky places, and spend most of 

 their time in trees, coming down in quest of prey, 

 which consists, as a rule, of birds, birds' eggs, squirrels, 

 hares, rabbits, moles, mice, snakes, lizards, and frogs ; 

 but they are said also to eat berries and other fruits. 

 They belong, of course, to the sable, polecat, and 

 weasel family, but pine-martens have no unpleasant 

 odour. They occurred, once upon a time, in the British 

 Isles, the latest specimens being killed in Lincolnshire 

 in the present century. 



Our eighth honk finished, still with the same spell 

 of bad luck hanging over us, we walked back into 

 camp. It was six o'clock, and since breakfast at five 

 o'clock in the morning we had been going on a bottle 

 of cold tea. Dinner was therefore more than ordinarily 



