157 



CHAPTEK XIII. 



IBEX-SHOOTING IN SPAIN— (Continued). 



III. — Sierra Bbrmbja (Mediterranean) . 



In the last chapter are described some experiences with 

 ibex in the distant Cordilleras of Castile : but we have the 

 wild cabra montes much nearer — indeed within sight of our 

 Andalucian home. The Sierra Nevada is one of their 

 chief abodes, and herds of goats roam the still nearer 

 heights of Ubrique, Bermeja, and the Palmitera. As the 

 circumstances of the ibex here vary from those, already 

 described, we now add some details of campaigns on these 

 Mediterranean ranges. 



We pitched our tents one March evening on a narrow 

 flat plateau, barely over 2,000 feet, at a point in the 

 Bermeja range, where our pioneer — we had employed a 

 native cazador to " prospect " for five or six weeks — had 

 localized two or three small herds of ibex. The steep moun- 

 tain-sides around were clad to their utmost summits with 

 strong brushwood and with scattered patches of pine and 

 a species of fir (pi?isapo)— admirable-looking ground for pig, 

 but not at all so, according to preconceived ideas, for the 

 wild-goat. It was, therefore, an agreeable surprise when, 

 early next morning, there were descried three ibex, quietly 

 grazing on the bloom of the aboldga brush beyond a deep 

 ravine, and only about 1,000 feet above the camp. These 

 three, while we watched, were joined by other two, 

 when some make-believe " sparring " ensued between a 

 pair of rams : but at this season (March) there was 

 obviously no great development of the combative 

 instinct. 



