AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
151 
and in winter of a blackish brown. The large males keep 
themselves apart from the rest, except in their rutting 
time. The time of their coupling is from the beginning 
of October to the end of November; and they bring forth 
in April and March. The young follows the dam for 
about five months, and sometimes longer, if the hunters, 
or the wolves, do not separate them. It is asserted that 
they live between twenty and thirty years. The flesh of 
the Chamois is good to eat; and some of the fattest afford 
ten or twelve pounds of suet, which far surpasses that of 
the goat in solidity and goodness. 
The cry of the Chamois is not distinctly known; if it 
has any, it is but faint, and resembling that of a hoarse 
goat; it is by this cry it calls its young; but, when they 
are frightened, or are in danger of any enemy, or some 
other object not perfectly known to them, they warn the 
rest of the flock by a kind of hissing noise. It is observa- 
ble, that the Chamois has a very penetrating eye, and its 
hearing and smell are not less distinguishing. When it 
finds an enemy near, it stops for a moment, and then in 
an instant flies off with the utmost speed. When the wind 
is in its favour, it can smell a human creature for more 
than half a mile distance. When this happens, therefore, 
and it cannot see its enemy, but only discovers his ap- 
proach by the scent, it begins the hissing noise with such 
force, that the rocks and the forests re-echo with the sound. 
This hissing continues as long as the breath will permit. 
In the beginning it is very shrill, and deeper towards the 
close. This animal then rests a moment, after this alarm, 
to inspect farther into its danger: and, having confirmed 
the reality of its suspicion, it commences to hiss by inter- 
vals, till it has spread the alarm to a great distance. During 
this time, it is in the most violent agitation, strikes the 
ground forcibly with its fore foot, and sometimes with 
both; it bounds from rock to rock; it turns, and looks 
round; it turns to the edge of the precipice, and when it 
has obtained a sight of the enemy, flies from it with all 
Rs speed. The hissing of the male is much more acute 
than that of the female; it is performed through the nos- 
trils, and is, properly, no more than a very strong breath, 
forced through the nostrils by fixing the tongue to the 
palate, keeping the teeth nearly shut, the lips open, and a 
little lengthened. Their agility is wonderful, as they 
will throw themselves down, across a rock, which is nearly 
perpendicular, and twenty or thirty feet in height, with- 
out a single prop to support their feet. Their motion has, 
indeed, rather the appearance of flying than of leaping. 
The Chamois feeds upon the best herbage, and chooses 
the most delicate parts of plants, flowers, and the most 
tender buds. It is not less delicate with regard to several 
aromatic herbs, which grow upon the sides of the Alps. 
It drinks but very little, while it feeds upon the succulent 
herbage, and ruminates, like the goat, in the intervals of 
feeding. Its head is crowned with two small horns, of 
about half a foot long, of a beautiful black, and rising from 
the forehead, almost betwixt the eyes. These horns are 
often made use of for the heads of canes. The hides of 
these animals are very strong and supple, and good warm 
waistcoats and gloves are made of them. 
The hunting of the Chamois is very laborious, and ex- 
tremely difficult and perilous. It is thus admirably de- 
scribed by Saussure : — “ The Chamois hunter sets out upon 
his expedition of fatigue and danger generally in the night. 
His object is to find himself at the break of day in the 
most elevated pastures, where the Chamois comes to feed 
before the flocks shall have arrived there. The Chamois 
feeds only at morning and evening. When the hunter 
has nearly reached the spot where he expects to find his 
prey, he reconnoitres with a telescope. If he finds not 
the Chamois, he mounts still higher; but if he discovers 
him, he endeavours to climb above him and to get nearer, 
by passing round some ravine, or gliding behind some 
eminence or rock. When he is near enough to dis- 
tinguish the horns of the animal (which are small, 
round, pointed, and bent backward like a hook,) he 
rests his rifle upon a rock, and takes his aim with 
great coolness. He rarely misses. This rifle is often 
double-barrelled. If the Chamois falls, the hunter runs 
to his prey — makes sure of him by cutting the hamstrings — 
and applies himself to consider by what way he may best 
regain his village. If the route is very difficult, he con- 
tents himself with skinning the Chamois; but if the way 
is at all practicable with a load, he throws the animal over 
his shoulder, and bears it home to his family, undaunted 
by the distance he has to go, and the precipices he has to 
cross. 
“ But when, as is more frequently the case, the vigi- 
lant animal perceives the hunter, lie flies with the greatest 
swiftness into the glaziers, leaping with incredible speed 
over the frozen snows and pointed rocks. It is particularly 
difficult to approach the Chamois when there are many to- 
gether. The sentinel, who is placed on the point of some 
rock which commands all the avenues of their pasturage, 
makes the sharp hissing sound already mentioned, at the 
sound of which all the rest run towards him, to judge for 
themselves of the nature of the danger. 11 they discover 
a beast of prey or a hunter, the most experienced puts him- 
self at their head; and they bound along, one after the 
other, into the most inaccessible places. 
“It is then that the labours of the hunter commence; 
for then, carried away by the excitement, he knows no 
danger. lie crosses the snows, without thinking of the 
