Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II MY FIRST IBEX A Clear idea of the ibex and his ways is necessary to the proper understanding of my account of my first day after ibex. The ibex is a goat, standing about as high as a donkey, and very massively built, with horns which sweep up and back in one regular graceful curve. A good horn should be over 35 inches long, and 10 to 11 inches in circumference at the base. He lives to a great age, sometimes it is said reaching fifty years. The beasts themselves vary a good deal in colour; the biggest are generally piebald, that is, have a black head and neck, a beard ten inches long, black at the base and whitish at the ends, a light yellowish body, with black stomach and legs, and a black stripe down 19 the back. They are very shy, and live as high up in the snow as they can; generally coming down at about three in the afternoon to graze below the snow level. Here they spend the night, and having had another good meal in the early morning, they retire at about nine o'clock to some beetling crag, whence they have a perfect view of the steep slopes below, and from whence they again descend at about three in the afternoon, having spent the day in sleep, and in a careful survey of the ground they intend to graze on. They depend chiefly on their eyesight for safety, but have also a very keen sense of smell, and it must not be imagined that they are deaf. They have one weak point, however, they do not anticipate danger from above. Having spent the whole day on the highest point necessary to safety, they seem to dismiss the thought of danger from above: this is the sportsman's greatest hope. Their activity is something wonderful; they will gallop over places a man cannot cross at all; so that when you get a good head, you may be...
