4» THE ALPS IN JUNE, 



on the subject, the results of which have been embodied in 

 Mr. Dresser's Birds of Europe. But what with the all-engrossing 

 passion for climbing, and the natural indisposition of the 

 young Englishman to loiter in that exhilarating air, it has 

 come to pass that the Anglo-Saxon race has for long past 

 invaded and occupied these mountains for three months in 

 each year, without discovering how remarkable the region is 

 in the movements and characteristics of its animal life. 



I myself have been fortunate in having as a companion an 

 old friend, a native of the Oberland, who has all his life been 

 attentive to the plants and animals of his beloved mountains. 

 Johann Anderegg will be frequently mentioned in this chapter, 

 and I will at once explain who he is. A peasant of the lower 

 Hasli-thal, in the canton of Bern, born before the present 

 ej:cellent system of education had penetrated into the mountains, 

 was not likely to have much chance of developing his native 

 intelligence ; but I have never yet found his equal among the 

 younger generation of guides, either in variety of knowledge, 

 or in brightness of mental faculty. He taught himself to read 

 and write, and picked up knowledge wherever he found a 

 chance. When his term of military service was over, he took 

 to the congenial life of a guide and 'jager,' in close fellowship 

 with his first cousin and namesake, the famous Melchior, 

 the prince of guides. But a long illness, which sent him for 

 many months to the waters of Leukerbad, incapacitated him 

 for severe climbing, and at the same time gave him leisure for 

 thinking and observing : Melchior outstripped him, and their 

 companionship, always congenial to both as men possessed 



