THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
In all cases ibex are strictly nocturnal, rarely seen amove by day;* but a 
diversity of habit is observable as between those of the lofty rock -regions 
and those of the lower, scrub-clad ranges. In the former, as in Gredos, 
Quintana, and formerly in the Pyrenees, the ibex at dawn betake them- 
selves to caves or overhung shelves in the face of sheer precipices, where 
they lie inaccessible and refuse to be dislodged even by a rifle -ball. On the 
Mediterranean ranges, where no such aerial sanctuaries are available, the 
ibex lie up by day among the tangle of brushwood, forming regular 
44 lairs.” Hence their native name of Cabra Montes (pronounced “montess”) 
or 44 Scrub-goat.” Here the native method of shooting them is by driving 
— a general turn-out of the whole scant population, each man armed. 
This is termed a monterla y and the death of some ewe or halfgrown kid is 
esteemed success. 
Formerly expert hunters followed an early-morning spoor with leashed 
hound — a sporting method. Some of these men enjoyed great local repute 
— and no less their hounds — both in still -hunting and in driving with a 
loose hound (unattended). Nowadays the game is too scarce for these 
systems. 
On the loftier rock -ranges, were the ibex adequately protected, these 
great Spanish cordilleras would yield a class of sport absolutely unique, 
and trophies not to be had elsewhere on this planet. 
However numerous the game may become, ibex-stalking at these 
tremendous altitudes will ever demand the extreme of laborious work. 
None save the young and vigorous — and possessed of some cragsmanship 
at that — need dream of success. 
The following narrative by the Marquis de Viana, Montero Mayor to 
H.M. King Alfonso XIII, was written for our book, “Unexplored Spain,” 
but reached us too late for insertion therein. It gives a clear insight into the 
recent history of the ibex in Sierra de Gr£dos, since 1905, when, by the 
spontaneous action of the landowners, the rights of chase were ceded 
exclusively to the King, and Gredos became a Royal preserve. Our own 
experiences in Gr£dos,long prior to the date named, showed that by the 
end of last century the ibex, which twenty years earlier had been fairly 
numerous, were reduced to some fifty head. By 1905 they had reached a 
point perilously near total extinction. In eight short years their recovery 
has been marvellous. 
•Possibly, to some extent, this preference for nocturnal habit may be accentuated by the constant persecution to 
which the Spanish ibex are everywhere subjected. 
384 
