MAMMALIA— IBEX. 367 



light. But he takes from his bag a bit of cheese and some of the barley 

 bread, which is his ordinary food — bread so hard that he is obliged to break 

 it between two stones, or to cleave it with the axe, which he always carries 

 with him to cut steps which shall serve for his ladder up the rocks of ice. 

 His frugal meal being soon ended, he puts a stone under his head, and 

 is presently asleep, dreaming of the way the chamois has taken. He is 

 awakened by the freshness of the morning air ; he rises, pierced through 

 with cold ; he measures with his eye the precipices he must yet climb to 

 reach the chamois; he drinks a little brandy, (of which he always carries 

 a small provision,) throws his bag across his shoulder, and again rushes 

 forward to encounter new dangers. These daring and persevering hunters 

 often remain whole days in the dreariest solitudes of the glaciers of Cha- 

 mouni ; and, during this time, their families, and, above all, their unhappy 

 wives, feel the keenest alarm for their safety. 



" And yet, with the full knowledge of the dangers to be encountered, the 

 chase of the chamois is the object of an insurmountable passion. Saussure 

 knew a handsome young man, of the district of Chamouni, who was about 

 to be married ; and the adventurous hunter thus addressed the naturalist : — 

 ' My grandfather was killed in the chase of the chamois ; my father was 

 killed also ; and I am so certain that I shall be killed myself, that I call this 

 bag, which I always carry hunting, my winding-sheet. I am sure that I 

 shall have no other ; and yet, if you were to offer to make my fortune, upon 

 the condition that I should renounce the chase of the chamois, I should 

 refuse your kindness.' Saussure adds, that he went several journeys in the 

 Alps with this young man ; that he possessed astonishing skill and strength, 

 but that his temerity was greater than either ; and that, two years after- 

 wards, he met the fate which he had anticipated, by his foot failing on the 

 brink of a precipice to which he had leaped. 



"The very few individuals of those who grow old in this trade, bear on 

 their countenances the traces of the life which they have led. They have 

 a wild, and somewhat haggard and desperate air, by which they may be 

 recognized in the midst of a crowd. Many of the superstitious peasants 

 believe that they are sorcerers ; that they have commerce with the evil 

 spirit ; and that it is he that throws them over the precipices." 



THE IBEXi 



Or wild goat, exactly resembles the domestic goat, in the conformation, 

 the organization, and the natural and physical habits. It only varies by 



1 Capra ibex, Lin. The genus Capra has eight lower and no upper incisors ; no 

 canines ; twelve upper and twelve lower molars. Horns common to both sexes, directed 

 upwards and backwards, striated transversely ; no muzzle ; interval between the nos- 

 trils naked ; no lachrymal sinus or ingTiinal pores ; ears pointed ; legs robust ; tail short ; 

 chin bearded. 



