CHAMOIS, 
m 
Their sight is very penetrating, and their senses 
cf smelling and hearing remarkably acute. When 
the wind blows in a proper direction they are said 
to be able to scent a man at the distance of a mile or 
upwards. Their voice somewhat resembles that of 
a hoarse domestic goat ; by means of this they are 
called together. When alarmed they adopt a dif- 
ferent noise, and advertise each other by a kind of 
whistle. This the animal on watch continues as 
long as he can blow without taking breath : it is 
at first sharp, but flattens towards the conclusion. 
He then stops for a moment, looks round on all 
sides, and begins whistling afresh, which he con- 
tinues from time to time. This is done with such 
force, that the rocks and forests re-echo the sound. 
His agitation is extreme. He strikes the earth 
with his feet. He leaps upon the highest stones 
he can find ; again looks round, leaps from one 
place to another, and, when he discovers any thing 
seriously alarming, he flies off. This whistling is 
performed through the nostrils, and consists of a 
strong blowing, similar to the sound which a man 
may make by fixing his tongue to the palate, with 
his teeth nearly shut, his lips open, and somewhat 
extended, and blowing long, and with great force. 
The chamois scramble among the inaccessible 
rocks of the country they inhabit with great agility. 
They neither ascend nor descend perpendicularly, 
but always in an oblique direction. When de- 
scending, in particular, they will throw themselves 
down across a rock, which is nearly perpendicular, 
and of twenty or thirty feet in height, without 
having a single prop to support their feet. In do** 
scending, they strike their feet three or four times 
against the rock, till they arrive at a proper resting 
place below. The spring of their tendons is so 
great, that, when leaping about among the preci- 
VOL. II. L 1 
