Black game are scarcely worth mentioning as far as sport is
concerned. Partridges scarce, not preserved, and the hooded crows and
birds of prey making life rather hard for them." Mr Danford further
speaks of the chamois-eagle as "not rare in the higher mountains." The
fisher-eagle "generally distributed." The king-eagle also "not rare."
The carrion-vulture "common throughout the country," also the red-footed
falcon. At one time and another I have myself seen most of these birds
in the Carpathians, which form the frontier between Transylvania and
Roumania.
Meanwhile I must resume the description of our march, which was a very
slow affair. As we ascended, the trees decreased in size. We had long
ago left the deciduous foliage behind us; but the pines themselves were
smaller, interspersed with what is called "crooked timber," which grows
in grotesque dwarf-like forms. The forest at last diminished into mere
sparse shrubs, and finally we reached the treeless region, called in
German the _Alpen_, where there is rich pasturage for cattle and sheep
during the summer. We were now on tolerably level ground, and I thought
we should get a trot out of our wretched horses, but no, not a step
faster would they go. I believe we went at the rate of about two miles
and a half an hour. We tried everything--I mean F----and I--to get the
animals to stretch out over the turf; but they set to kicking
vigorously, backing and rearing, so that to avoid giving annoyance to
our companions, we were obliged to give in, and let the brutes go their
own pace.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111