CHAPTER IV.

MOUNTAIN PLANTS AND ANIMALS.

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and so are the stony rocks for the conies.--_Psalm civ. 18._

There must be few people who have neither seen nor heard of the beauty and exquisite colours of Alpine[15] flowers. They are first seen on the fringes of the stately woods above the cultivated land; then in multitudes on the sloping pastures with which many mountain-chains are robed, brightening the verdure with innumerable colours; and higher up, where neither grass nor loose herbage can exist, among the slopes of shattered fragments which roll down from the mountain-tops,--nay, even amidst the glaciers,--they gladden the eye of the traveller and seem to plead sweetly with the spirits of destruction. Alpine plants fringe the vast hills of snow and ice of the high hills, and sometimes have scarcely time to flower and ripen a few seeds before being again covered by their snowy bed. When the season is unfavourable, numbers of them remain under the snow for more than a year; and here they safely rest, unharmed by the alternations of frost and biting winds, with moist and springlike days. They possess the great charm of endless variety of form and colour, and represent widely separated divisions of the vegetable kingdom; but they are all small and low-growing compared to their relatives grown in the plains, where the soil is richer and the climate milder. Among them are tiny orchids quite as interesting in their way as those from the tropics; liliputian trees, and a tree-like moss (_Lycopodium dendroideum_) branching into an erect little pyramid as if in imitation of a mountain pine; ferns that peep cautiously from narrow rocky crevices as if clinging to the rock for shelter from the cold blasts; bulbous plants, from lilies to bluebells; evergreen shrubs, perfect in leaf and blossom and fruit, yet so small that one's hat will cover them; exquisite creeping plants spreading freely along the ground, and when they creep over the brows of rocks or stones, draping them with curtains of colour as lovely as those we see in the forests; numberless minute plants scarcely larger than mosses, mantling the earth with fresh green carpets in the midst of winter; succulent plants in endless variety; and lastly the ferns, mosses, and lichens which are such an endless source of pleasure and delight to the traveller. In short, Alpine vegetation presents us with nearly every type of plant life of northern and temperate climes, chastened in tone and diminished in size.

[15] The word "Alpine" is used in a general sense to denote the vegetation that grows naturally on the most elevated regions of the earth; that is, on all high mountains, whether they rise up in hot tropical plains or in cooler northern pastures.

It is not difficult to account for the small size of these plants; for in the first place we cannot expect a large or luxuriant growth where the air is cold, the soil scanty, and the light of the sun often obscured by clouds, and where the changes of temperature are rapid,--which is very unfavourable to most plants. Again, in the close struggle for existence which takes place on the plains and low tree-clad hills, the smaller forms of plant life are often overrun by trees, trailing plants, bushes, and vigorous herbs; but where these cannot find a home, owing to the severity of the winter and other causes, the little Alpine plants, covered up by snow in the winter, can thrive abundantly. And lastly, like the older and conquered races of men who have been driven to the hills (see chap. i., p. 28) and find shelter there, so there are both plants and animals living in the mountains which man will not suffer to live in the plain where he grows his crops, pastures his cattle, or builds his cities. We would also venture to suggest that possibly some plants have been ousted from plains by newer and more aggressive types, which came and took their place. If so, vegetable life would afford an illustration of a process which has so often taken place in human history. This is only a speculation, but still it might be worth following up. If Alpine plants, or any considerable number of them, could be shown to belong to more ancient types, such as flourished in the later geological periods, that would afford some evidence in favour of the idea. Whether this is so or not, plant life on the mountains is almost entirely protected from the destroying hands of men with their ploughs and scythes, as well as from many grazing animals. As Mr. Ruskin quaintly says:

"The flowers which on the arable plain fell before the plough now find out for themselves unapproachable places, where year by year they gather into happier fellowship and fear no evil."

It is clear that the climate of a mountainous region determines the character of the vegetation. Now, the climate will be different in different parts of a mountain-range, and will depend upon the height above the sea and other causes.[16] Some writers upon this subject have attached too much importance to absolute height above the sea, as though this were the only cause at work. It is a very important cause, no doubt, but there are others which also have a great influence, such as the position of each locality with respect to the great mountain masses, the local conditions of exposure to the sun and protection from cold winds, or the reverse. However, in spite of local irregularities there are in the Alps certain broad zones or belts of vegetation which may be briefly described as follows:--

[16] The following remarks are largely taken from the Introduction to Ball's well-known "Alpine Guide."

1. _The Olive region._--This region curiously illustrates what has just been said about other causes besides height influencing the climate and vegetation. For along the southern base of the Alps, the lower slopes and the mouths of the valleys have a decidedly warmer climate than the plains of Piedmont and Lombardy. Thus, while the winter climate of Milan is colder than that of Edinburgh, the olive can ripen its fruit along the skirts of the mountain region, and penetrates to a certain distance towards the interior of the chain along the lakes and the wider valleys of the Southern Alps. Even up the shores of the Lake of Garda, where the evergreen oak grows, the olive has become wild. The milder climate of the Borromean Islands, and some points on the shores of the Lago Maggiore, will permit many plants of the warmer temperate zone to grow; while at a distance of a few miles, and close to the shores of the same lake, but in positions exposed to the cold winds from the Alps, plants of the Alpine region grow freely, and no delicate perennials can survive the winter. The olive has been known to resist a temperature of about 16° F. (or 16° below the freezing point of water), but is generally destroyed by a less degree of cold. It can only be successfully cultivated where the winter frosts are neither long nor severe, where the mean temperature of winter does not fall below 42° F., and a heat of 75° F. during the day is continued through four or five months of the summer and autumn.

2. _The Vine region._--The vine, being more tolerant of cold than the olive, can grow at a higher level; and so the next zone of vegetation in the Alps may be called "the Vine region." But to give tolerable wine it requires at the season of ripening of the grape almost as much warmth as the olive needs. Vines can grow in the deeper valleys throughout a great part of the Alpine chain, and in favourable situations up to a considerable height on their northern slopes. On the south side, although the limit of perpetual snow is lower, the vine often reaches near to the foot of the greater peaks. But the fitness of a particular spot for the production of wine depends far more on the direction of the valley and of the prevailing winds than on the height. And so it happens that in the Canton Valais, the Valley of the Arc in Savoy, and some others on the north side of the dividing range, tolerable wine is made at a higher level than in the valleys of Lombardy, whose direction allows the free passage of the keen northern blasts. It is a curious fact that in the Alps the vine often resists a winter temperature which would kill it down to the roots in the low country; and we must explain it by the protection of the deep winter snow. Along with the vine many species of wild plants, especially annuals, characteristic of the flora of the south of Europe, show themselves in the valleys of the Alps.

3. _The Mountain region, or region of deciduous trees._--Many writers take the growth of corn as the characteristic of the colder temperate zone, corresponding to what has been called the mountain region of the Alps. But so many varieties, all with different requirements, are in cultivation, that it is impossible to take the growth of cereals in general as marking clearly any natural division of the surface. A more natural limit is marked by the presence of deciduous trees (trees which shed their leaves). Although the oak, beech, and ash do not exactly reach the same height, and are not often seen growing side by side in the Alps, yet their upper limit marks pretty accurately the transition from a temperate to a colder climate that is shown by a general change in the wild, herbaceous vegetation. The lower limit of this zone is too irregular to be exactly defined, but its upper boundary is about 4,000 feet on the cold north side of the Alps, and often rises to 5,500 feet on the southern slopes, which of course get more sunshine and warmth. The climate of this region is favourable to the growth of such trees as the oak, beech, and ash, but it does not follow that we should see them there in any great numbers at the present time; for it is probable that at a very early date they were extensively destroyed for building purposes, and to clear space for meadow and pasture land, so that with the exception of the beech forests of the Austrian Alps, there is scarcely a considerable wood of deciduous trees to be seen anywhere in the chain. In many districts where the population is not too dense, the pine and Scotch fir have taken the place of the oak and beech, mainly because the young plants are not so eagerly attacked by goats, the great destroyers of trees.

4. _The region of Coniferous trees._--Botanically this region is best distinguished by the prevalence of coniferous trees, forming vast forests, which if not kept down by man (and by goats) would cover the slopes of the Alps. The prevailing species are the common fir and the silver fir. In districts where granite abounds, the larch flourishes and reaches a greater size than any other tree. Less common are the Scotch fir and the arolla, or Siberian fir. In the Eastern Alps the dwarf pine becomes conspicuous, forming a distinct zone on the higher mountains above the level of other firs. The pine forests play a most important part in the natural economy of the Alps; and their preservation is a matter of very great importance to the future inhabitants. But in some places they have been considerably diminished by cutting. This has especially happened in the neighbourhood of mines; and in consequence the people of the unfrequented communes have become so alive to this that some jealousy is felt of strangers wandering among the mountains, lest they should discover metals and cause the destruction of the woods. Their fears are not unreasonable; for the forests, besides exerting a good deal of influence on rainfall and climate, form natural defences against the rush of the spring avalanches (see chapter iii., page 93). It is recorded that after the war of 1799, in which many of those near the St. Gothard Pass were destroyed, the neighbouring villages suffered terribly from this scourge. Hence the laws do not allow of timber being cut in certain forests called "Bannwalde;" and in most places the right of felling trees is strictly regulated, and the woods are under the inspection of officials.

In spots high up among the mountains, to which access is difficult, the timber is converted into charcoal, which is then brought down in sacks by horses and mules. There are two ways in which timber is conveyed down from the forest: either it is cut up into logs some five feet long, and thrown into a neighbouring torrent, which brings it down over cliff and gorge to the valley below; or else trough-like slides are constructed along the mountain-sides, down which the trunks themselves are launched.

It is this region of coniferous trees which mainly determines the manner of life of the population of the Alps. In the month of May the horned cattle, having been fed in houses during the winter (as they are in the Scotch Highlands, where the cowsheds are called "byres"), are led up to the lower pastures. The lower châlets, occupied in May and part of June, generally stand at about the upper limit of the mountain region. Towards the middle or end of June the cattle are moved up to the chief pastures, towards the upper part of the region of coniferous trees, where they usually remain for the next two or three months. But there are some available pastures still higher up, and hither some of the cattle are sent for a month or more.

5. _The Alpine region._--This is the zone of vegetation extending from the upper limit of trees to where permanent masses of snow first make their appearance; so that where the trees cease, the peculiar Alpine plants begin; but we still find shrubs, such as the common rhododendron, Alpine willow, and the common juniper, which extend up to, and the latter even beyond, the level of perpetual snow. The limits of this interesting and delightful botanical region may be fixed between 6,000 and 8,000 feet above the sea, and at least 1,000 feet higher on the south slopes of the Alps, which get more sunshine. It is used to some extent for pasture; and in Piedmont it is not uncommon to find châlets at the height of 8,500 feet, and vegetation often extends freely up to 9,500 feet. Here and there, at levels below this zone, many Alpine species may be found, either transported by accident from their natural home, or finding a permanent refuge in some cool spot sheltered from the sun, and moistened by streamlets descending from the snow region. But it is chiefly here that those delightful flowers grow which make the Alps like a great flower-garden,--great anemones, white and sulphur-coloured; gentians of the deepest blue, like the sky overhead; campanulas, geums, Alpine solanellas, and forget-me-nots; asters, ox-eyed daisies, pale pink primulas, purple heartsease, edelweiss, saxifrages, yellow poppies, Alpine toad-flax, monkshood, potentilla, and others too numerous to mention. Says Professor Bonney,--

"Who cannot recall many a happy hour spent in rambling from cluster to cluster on the side of some great Alp?--the scent of sweet herbage or of sweeter daphne perfuming the invigorating air, the melody of the cattle-bells borne up from some far-off pasture, while the great blue vault of heaven above seems reflected in the gentian clusters at his feet. The love of flowers seems natural to almost every human being, however forlorn his life may have been, however far it may have missed its appointed mark. It may well be so; they at least are fresh and untainted from their Maker's hand; the cry of 'Nature red in tooth and claw' scarce breaks their calm repose. Side by side they flourish without strife; none 'letteth or hindereth another,' yet so tender and delicate, doomed to fade all too soon, a touch of sadness is ever present to give a deeper pathos to our love."

6. _The Glacial region._--This comprehends all that portion of the Alps that rises above the limit of perpetual snow. But a word of explanation is necessary. The highest parts of the Alps are not covered by one continuous sheet of snow; otherwise we should never see any peaks or crags there. Some are too steep for the snow to rest upon them, and therefore remain bare at heights much greater than the so-called "limit of perpetual snow," and that limit varies considerably. Still this term has a definite meaning when rightly understood. Leaving out of account masses of snow that accumulate in hollows shaded from the sun, the "snow-line" is fairly even, so that on viewing an Alpine range from a distance, the larger patches and fields of snow on adjoining mountains, with the same aspect, are seen to maintain a pretty constant level.

Vegetation becomes scarce in this region, not, as commonly supposed, because Alpine plants do not here find the necessary conditions for growth, but simply for want of soil. The intense heat of the direct rays of the sun (see chapter iii., pages 76-77) compensates for the cold of the night; and it is probable that the greater allowance of light also stimulates vegetable life. But all the more level parts are covered with ice or snow; and the higher we ascend, the less the surface remains bare, with the exception of the projecting rocks which usually undergo rapid destruction and breaking up from the freezing of whatever water finds its way into their fissures.

Nevertheless, many species of flowering plants have been found even at the height of eleven thousand feet.

It is in this region that plants are found whose true home is in the arctic regions (see chapter ii., pages 64-65).

For the sake of those who love ferns, lycopods, and other cryptogamic or flowerless plants, a few words may be said here. Of the polypodies, the beech fern and oak fern are generally common, so is the limestone polypody in places where limestone occurs. Another species (_P. alpestre_) very like the lady fern grows plentifully in many places. The parsley fern, familiar to the botanist in Wales and other parts of Great Britain, is common, especially on the crystalline rocks, and ascends to above seven thousand feet. The holly fern is perhaps the most characteristic one of the higher Alps. It is abundant in almost every district from the Viso to the Tyrol, ranging from about five thousand feet to nearly eight thousand feet. The finest specimens are to be found in the limestone districts. Nestling down in little channels worn out of the rock, it shoots out great fronds, often more than eighteen inches long, which are giants compared to the stunted specimens seen on rockwork in English gardens.

_Asplenium septentrionale_ is very common in most of the districts where crystalline rocks abound. The hart's tongue is hardly to be called a mountain fern. The common brake is confined to the lower slopes.

_Cistopteris fragillis_ and _C. dentata_ are common, and the more delicate _C. Alpina_ is not rare. The noble _Osmunda regalis_ keeps to the warmer valleys. The moonwort abounds in the upper pastures.

The club-mosses (_Lycopodium_), which are found in Great Britain, are common in most parts of the Alps, especially the _L. selago_, which grows almost up to the verge of the snows. Lower down is the delicate _L. velveticum_, which creeps among the damp mosses under the shade of the forest. Many of the smaller species stain with spots of crimson, orange, and purple the rocks among the snowfields and glaciers, and gain the summits of peaks more than eighteen thousand feet above the sea, reaching even to the highest rocks in the Alpine chain. For the sake of readers who are not familiar with that wonderful book, "Modern Painters," we will quote some exquisite passages on lichens and mosses, full of beautiful thoughts:--

"We have found beauty in the tree yielding fruit and in the herb yielding seed. How of the herb yielding no seed,--the fruitless, flowerless[17] lichen of the rock?

[17] Flowerless in the ordinary, not the botanical sense.

"Lichens and mosses (though these last in their luxuriance are deep and rich as herbage, yet both for the most part humblest of the green things that live),--how of these? Meek creatures!--the first mercy of the earth, veiling with trusted softness its dintless rocks, creatures full of pity, covering with strange and tender honour the scarred disgrace of ruin, laying quiet finger on the trembling stones to teach them rest. No words that I know of will say what these mosses are; none are delicate enough, none perfect enough, none rich enough. How is one to tell of the rounded bosses of furred and beaming green; the starred divisions of rubied bloom, fine-filmed, as if the Rock Spirits could spin porphyry as we do grass; the traceries of intricate silver, and fringes of amber, lustrous, arborescent, burnished through every fibre into fitful brightness and glossy traverses of silken change, yet all subdued and pensive, and framed for simplest, sweetest offices of grace? They will not be gathered, like the flowers, for chaplet or love token; but of these the wild bird will make its nest and the wearied child his pillow.

"And as the earth's first mercy, so they are its last gift to us. When all other service is vain, from plant and tree the soft mosses and grey lichen take up their watch by the headstone. The woods, the blossoms, the gift-bearing grasses, have done their parts for a time, but these do service for ever. Tree for the builder's yard--flowers for the bride's chamber--corn for the granary--moss for the grave.

"Yet as in one sense the humblest, in another they are the most honoured of the earth-children; unfading as motionless, the worm frets them not and the autumn wastes not. Strong in lowliness, they neither blanch in heat nor pine in frost. To them, slow-fingered, constant-hearted, is entrusted the weaving of the dark, eternal tapestries of the hills; to them, slow-pencilled, iris-dyed, the tender framing of their endless imagery. Sharing the stillness of the unimpassioned rock, they share also its endurance; and while the winds of departing spring scatter the white hawthorn blossom like drifted snow, and summer dims on the parched meadow the drooping of its cowslip,--gold far above, among the mountains, the silver lichen-spots rest, star-like, on the stone; and the gathering orange-stain upon the edge of yonder western peak reflects the sunsets of a thousand years."

Alpine and arctic plants are met with in Great Britain, but Scotland has a much more extensive arctic-Alpine flora than England, Wales, or Ireland, the reason being the greater altitude of its mountains. The combined flora of the United Kingdom contains only ninety-one species of arctic-Alpine plants, and of these eighty-eight--that is, all but three--are natives of Scotland. Of these three the first is a gentian (_Gentiana verna_), which is to be found on the hills of West Yorkshire, Durham, Westmoreland, and other parts. It comes from the Alps. The second is _Lloydia serotina_,--a small bulbous plant with white flowers, which is found on the hills of Carnarvonshire, in Wales. The third, well known in English gardens, is London pride (_Saxifraga umbrosa_), which is only to be found on the southwest Irish hills.

Of the ninety-one arctic-Alpine species, just about half are also natives of England and Wales, but only twenty-five belong to Ireland. If we examine the lists of the flora of Arctic Europe we find that all these, except about six, are found in arctic regions; and if we travel farther north till we come actually to polar regions, we find nearly fifty of these species growing there near the sea-level. The Grampian Mountains are the chief centre of the Scottish arctic-Alpine flora. The two principal localities for such flowers in that range are the Breadalbane Mountains in Perthshire, and the Cænlochan and Clova Mountains of Forfarshire. There are also a goodly number on the mountains of the Braemar district.

The history of the arctic-Alpine flora of Europe is a very interesting one. These plants, whose true home is in the arctic regions, living high up on the mountains of Europe, give unmistakable evidence of a time, very far back, when Northern Europe was overrun by glaciers and snowfields so as to resemble in appearance and in climate the Greenland of the present day. This period is known to geologists as the "Great Ice Age." The moraines of glaciers, ice-worn rock surfaces, and other unmistakable signs may be well seen in many parts of Great Britain. How long ago this took place we cannot say; but judging from the considerable changes in geography which have undoubtedly taken place since then, we must conclude that many thousands of years, perhaps two hundred thousand, have intervened between this period and the present time.

When arctic conditions prevailed over this wide area, the plants and animals which now live in arctic latitudes flourished in Great Britain; but as the climate gradually became more genial, and the snow and ice melted, the plants and animals mostly retreated to their northern home. A certain number doubtless became extinct; but others took to the highest parts of the mountains, where snow and ice abound; and there they remain to the present day, separated from their fellows, but still enjoying the kind of climate to which they have always been accustomed, and testifying to the wonderful changes which have taken place since the mammoth, whose bones are found embedded in our river-gravels, wandered over the plains of Northern Europe.

_Animal Life._

The rocky fastnesses of the Alps still afford a home to some of the larger wild animals which in other parts of Europe have gradually disappeared with the advance of civilisation. During the latter part of the "Stone Age," long before history was written, when men used axes, hammers, arrow-heads, and other implements of stone, instead of bronze or iron, Switzerland was inhabited by animals which are not to be seen now. The gigantic urus (_Bos primigenius_), which flourished in the forests of the interior during this prehistoric human period, and gave its name to the canton of Uri, has become extinct. The marsh hog was living during the period of the Swiss lake-dwellers. These people made their houses on piles driven in near the shore, and were acquainted with the use of bronze, and therefore later than the men of the "Stone Age." The remains of these strange dwelling-places have been discovered in several places, as well as many articles of daily use. The marsh hog has disappeared; and its place is taken by the wild boar and domestic hog, which afford sport and food to the present population. But taking Switzerland as it now is, we will say a few words about the more interesting forms of animal life dwelling in the Alps, beginning with those which are highest in the animal kingdom. Chief among these is the brown bear, still occasionally found, but it is exceedingly rare, except in the Grisons and in the districts of the Tyrol and Italy bordering on the canton, where it still carries on its ravages.[18] Some also believe that it still lingers in the rocky fastnesses of the Jura Mountains, to the east of the Alps. There is properly only one species of bear in Switzerland, but the hunters generally speak of three,--the great black, the great grey, and the small brown. The second of these is merely an accidental variety of the first; but between the grey and the small brown bears there is a good deal of difference. They assert that the black bear is not only considerably larger than the brown, but is also different in its habits. It is less ferocious and prefers a vegetable diet,--feeding on herbs, corn, and vegetables, with the roots and branches of trees. It has a way of plundering bee-hives and also ants' nests; it delights in strawberries and all kinds of fruit, plundering the orchards, and even making raids on the vineyards, but always retreating before dawn. As a rule it does not attack human beings. The brown bear is much more formidable, prowling by night about the sheepfolds, and causing the sheep by their fright to fall down precipices. Goats, when alarmed, leap on the roofs of the châlets, and bleat, in order to arouse the shepherds; so that when Bruin rears himself up against the wall he often meets his death. There are many stories on record of fierce fights for life between man and bear. The bear passes the winter in a torpid state, and eats little or nothing then.

[18] We are again indebted to Professor Bonney's "Alpine Regions of Switzerland" for the information here given.

The wolf, though still lingering in several lonely parts of the Alps, is rapidly becoming rare. It is most frequent in the districts about the Engadine and in the Jura Mountains. Only in winter-time, when hard pressed by hunger, does it approach the haunts of man. It takes almost any kind of prey it can get,--foxes, hares, rats, mice, birds, lizards, frogs, and toads. Sheep and goats are its favourite prey. The wolf is an affectionate parent, and takes his turn in looking after the nurslings, which is a necessary precaution, as his friends and relations have a way of eating up the babies.

The fox is common in many parts of the Alps, but not often seen by travellers. Instead of taking the trouble to burrow, he frequently manages by various cunning devices to take possession of a badger's hole. As Tschudi quaintly observes, "He has far too much imagination and poetic sentiment to like so monotonous and laborious an occupation as burrowing." Like the wolf, the mountain fox eats whatever he can catch, even beetles, flies, and bees. Those in the valleys live more luxuriously than their relations on the mountains,--plundering bee-hives and robbing orchards. As it was in Judæa in the days of Solomon, so it is now in Switzerland among the vineyards; and a peasant might well say, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards."

The lynx is only occasionally found in the Alps, which is fortunate for the shepherds, for they can play terrible havoc with the sheep.

Wild-cats still linger in the most unfrequented parts. Their fur is valuable, and the flesh is sometimes eaten. The badger is far from common, though rarely seen by day. It is very cunning in avoiding traps, and so is generally either dug out of its hole drawn by dogs, or pulled out by a pole with nippers or a hook at the end. Passing on to less ferocious beasts, we find the otter common along the borders of rivers and lakes. The polecat, weasel, and stoat are often too abundant for keepers of poultry. The squirrel is common enough in the forests, but varies greatly in colour. It is doubtful whether the beaver still lingers by some lonely Alpine stream. It is last mentioned in a list of Swiss mammals, published in 1817, as found, though rarely, in some lonely spots. Rabbits are common, but hares rather scarce; of these there are, as in Scotland, two varieties,--the brown hare, which is seldom found at heights greater than four thousand to five thousand feet, and the blue hare, which ranges up to nine thousand feet. The latter changes colour: its fur in summer is of a dull bluish-grey, and in winter it becomes perfectly white, and so affords a striking illustration of "protective mimicry," for with snow lying on the ground it would be very hard to see the creature.

The marmot is common in all the higher Alpine regions. These interesting little creatures are very watchful, and easily scent danger. When an intruder approaches, a sentinel marmot utters a long shrill whistle, which is often repeated two or three times, and then they all make for their burrows; but it is not easy to distinguish them from the grey rocks among which they live. The fur is a yellowish or brownish grey, with black on the head and face, and a little white on the muzzle; the tail is short and bushy with a tipping of black. They have different quarters for summer and winter. The summer burrows are in the belt of rough pasture between the upper limits of trees and the snows; towards the end of autumn they come down to the pastures which the herdsmen have just abandoned and there make their winter burrows, which are much larger than the summer ones. Like rabbits, they frequently make a bolt-hole, by which they may escape from an intruder. In winter the holes are plugged up, and the marmots, rolling themselves up in a ball, go to sleep for six months or more. Sometimes hunters dig them out; but so soundly do they sleep that, according to De Saussure, they may often be taken out, placed in the game-bag, and carried home without being aroused. They wake up about April.

The chamois, a very favourite subject with the wood-carvers, is the only member of the antelope family in Western Europe; it is found in almost every part of the Alps, but is now much rarer than it was formerly. A full-grown chamois in good condition weighs about sixty pounds. The hair is thick, and changes colour with the season, being a red yellowish-brown in summer and almost black in winter. The horns, which curve backwards, rise from the head above and between the eyes to a height which rarely exceeds seven inches. When the kid is about three months old, the horns make their appearance, and at first are not nearly as hook-shaped as they afterwards become. When full-grown, it stands at the shoulder about two feet from the ground. The hind-legs being longer than the fore-legs, its gait is awkward on level ground, but they are admirably suited for mountain climbing. When at full speed, it can check itself almost instantly, and can spring with wonderful agility. Its hoofs are not well adapted for traversing the ice, and therefore it avoids glaciers as far as possible. Having a great fear of concealed crevasses, it is very shy of venturing on the upper part of a glacier; and the tracks which it leaves in these places often show by their windings and sudden turnings that the animal has exercised great caution. And so travellers often use this as a useful clue to getting safely over a glacier. Its agility is something extraordinary. It can spring across chasms six or seven yards wide, and "with a sudden bound leap up the face of a perpendicular rock, and merely touching it with its hoofs, rebound again in an opposite direction to some higher crag, and thus escape from a spot where, without wings, egress seemed impossible. When reaching upwards on its hind-legs, the fore-legs resting on some higher spot, it is able to stretch to a considerable distance, and with a quick spring bring up its hind-quarters to a level with the rest of the body, and with all four hoofs together, stand poised on a point of rock not broader than your hand."[19] The chamois feed on various mountain herbs, and on the buds and sprouts of the rhododendron and latschen (a pine). At night they couch among the broken rocks high upon the mountains, descending at daybreak to pasture, and retreating, as the heat increases, towards their fastnesses. When winter comes, they are forced down to the higher forests, where they pick up a scanty subsistence from moss, dead leaves, and the fibrous lichen which hangs in long yellowish-grey tufts from the fir-trees and bears the name of "chamois-beard." While browsing on this, they sometimes get their horns hooked in a bough, and so, being unable to disentangle themselves, perish with hunger. The senses of hearing, smell, and sight are exceedingly acute; so that the hunter must exercise all his craft to approach the animals. Pages might be filled with the hair-breadth escapes and fearful accidents which have befallen hunters; and yet they find the pursuit so fascinating that nothing will induce them to abandon it. A young peasant told the famous De Saussure (the pioneer of Alpine explorers) that though his father and grandfather before him had met their death while out on the hunt, not even the offer of a fortune would tempt him to change his vocation. The bag which he carried with him he called his winding-sheet, because he felt sure he would never have any other. Two years afterwards he was found dead at the foot of a precipice.

[19] Bonar on Chamois-hunting in Bavaria.

The bouquetin, or steinbock, once abundant throughout the greater part of the Alps, is now confined to certain parts where it is preserved by the King of Italy. De Saussure observes that in his time they had ceased to be found near Chamouni. Its whole build is remarkably strong, giving it quite a different appearance from the slender and graceful chamois.

The roe, the fallow deer, and the red deer have, it is said, quite disappeared from the French and Swiss Alps, but all of them occur in the Bavarian and Austrian highlands. They frequent the forests which clothe the lower slopes, and do not often wander into the more rocky districts. The wild boar only now and then appears across the Rhine, although it is common in the Subalpine forests farther east; but we can hardly consider it a true Alpine quadruped.

Passing on to the birds which frequent the Alps, we must first notice the bearded vulture, the lämmergeier of the Germans, which once was common, but now only holds its own here and there in some lonely mountain fastness. Although preferring living prey to carrion, still in many ways it is closely allied to the true vulture. The upper part of the body is a greyish-brown hue, the under side white, tinged with reddish brown. The nest, built on a high ledge of rock, consists of straw and fern, resting on sticks, on which are placed branches lined with moss and down. It is a rare thing for the traveller to obtain a view of this monarch of the Alpine birds. Like the true vulture, its digestive powers are marvellous. According to Tschudi ("Les Alpes"), the stomach of one of these birds was found to contain five fragments of a cow's rib, a mass of matted wool and hair, and the leg of a kid perfect from the knee downwards. Another had bolted a fox's rib fifteen inches long, as well as the brush, besides a number of bones and other indigestible parts of smaller animals, which were slowly being eaten away by the gastric juice. Sheep, goats, full-grown chamois, and smaller quadrupeds are eagerly devoured by this voracious bird. It is said to be bold enough to attack a man, when it finds him asleep or climbing in any dangerous place. Tschudi, in his book on the Alps, gives several instances of young children being carried off. One of these happened in the Bernese Oberland, as follows: Two peasants, making hay upon the pastures, had taken with them their daughter Anna, a child about three years old. She quickly fell asleep on the turf near the hay châlet; so the father put his broad-brimmed hat over her face, and went to work some little way off. On his return with a load of hay the child was gone; and a brief search showed that she was nowhere near. Just at this time a peasant walking along a rough path in the glen was startled by the cry of a child, and going towards the place whence it came, saw a lämmergeier rise from a neighbouring summit and hover for some time over a precipice. On climbing thither in all haste, he found the child lying on the very brink. She was but little injured; some scratches were found on her hands and on the left arm, by which she had been seized; and she had been carried more than three quarters of a mile through the air. She lived to a good old age, and was always called the Geier-Anna, or Vulture's Annie, in memory of her escape. The particulars are inscribed in the registers of the parish of Habkeren.

The golden eagle is not uncommon in most parts of the Alps, although travellers rarely obtain a near view. It is said to be very fond of hares, chasing and capturing them very cleverly. As in Great Britain, it is accused of carrying off children; but this is at least doubtful. The kite, buzzard and falcon are occasionally seen. There are at least ten species of owls, among which is the magnificent eagle-owl. The raven is found in the lonelier glens, and is often tamed. Its thieving propensities are very amusing. Alpine birds of prey correspond very closely with British. The jackdaw is also common. It would be impossible within our short limits to give a complete list of Swiss birds, but we may mention among others the nutcracker, the jay, the white-breasted swift, the wheatear, the common black redstart, the beautiful wall-creeper, and the snow-finch, which mounts to the borders of the snow. Of game-birds we may mention the capercailze, the black grouse, and the hazel grouse, all of which are common in many of the forests. The ptarmigan haunts the stony tracts on the borders of perpetual snow. In winter it turns white, and in summer greyish-brown, though a good deal of white remains.

Pheasants and partridges cannot be said to be Alpine birds; but the Greek partridge may be so considered.

Numbers of the mountain streams and tarns contain excellent trout, and most of the larger lakes are well stocked with fish. Some of the trout of the Swiss and Italian lakes are of great size. The pike frequently weigh twelve to fifteen pounds.

Reptiles are not numerous. The common frog, which is said to be found as high as ten thousand feet above the sea, swarms in some parts of the Rhone Valley. Of true lizards, five species have been recognized. The blind-worm (which is not a snake), so common on many of our English heaths, is often met with. Among the true snakes we find the English ringed snake--quite harmless--and two adders. The common adder is found at a height of seven thousand feet above the sea.

Lower forms of life not possessing a backbone (invertebrates) abound in this region; but they are far too numerous to be considered here. Butterflies and moths are abundant; and many of those which are rare in England are common in the Alps, so that the entomologist finds a happy hunting-ground. The beautiful swallowtail and the handsome apollo, coppers, painted ladies, fritillaries, and many other Lepidoptera thrive in these regions, and are less easily frightened than at home in England.