ADVENTURES OF CHAMOIS HUNTERS. 281 



Joseph gazed upon the position with a feeling of joy, 

 and pressed upon the animals whose escape seemed im- 

 possible. As soon as the mother caught sight of him, she 

 Baw at a glance the unfavorable disposition of the rock, 

 and sprung upon the hunter with fearful fury. In such 

 attacks, the thrust is not very violent, but there is great 

 danger of the animal hooking the legs of the hunter, and 

 tumbling him down the precipice. Joseph was in no con- 

 dition to fire at the approaching chamois, as both hands 

 were necessary to sustain him on the narrow path. He 

 therefore warded off the blows as well as he could with his 

 feet, and still advanced. The anguish and fury of the 

 mother increased. She dashed back to her young, coursed 

 round them' with low cries, as if to warn them of their 

 danger, and then leaped up the fragment of rock, the 

 second mode of egress from the riiche. She then leaped 

 down to her little ones, and seemed to encourage them 

 to attempt the leap. The little creatures sprang and 

 wounded their forehead against the rocks that were to 

 high for them, and vain were the bold leaps of the mother 

 to show them the way. All this was the work o a few 

 minutes, while the hunter had advanced a few steps nearer 

 to his prey. He smiled in his fancied triumph. But he 

 had not yet won. The chamois mother, fixing her hind 

 legs firmly on the rock behind, stretched her body to its 

 utmost length, and planted her fore feet on the rock above, 



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