The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-10-20
ROYAL SPORT.
The Swedish Monarch Tells O
HIS First Chase of the
Channels.
An Adventure in the Tyrol as
Related by q Royal Pen-The
KING a Rather Poor Shot
But q Good Story
Teller.

Translated from King Oscars letter
by Carl Siemers.
Here is an account which will give
an idea of the hazard attending this
| sport, and also of the marvellous res
i olution of the Alp-hunters:
During one of my travels in Swift
erland I once obtained an excellent
guide from Meifrengen, across the
Bernese Oberland, who had in his
younger days been the boldest and
most successful chamOis hunter in
the place, but who had subsequently
70: ever renounced this, his dearest
pastime, on beholding his bosom
friend fall before his eyes into an inn
measurable abyss. He related,
among other things, that his FRIEND
aud himself had once, when they
were mere lads, started on a hunt.
For several days they staIked with
out success, which seems to have if
ritated them to such an extent as to
make them determined not to return
without some spoil. At last they
tracked a splendid chamois, hemmed
between two arms of a glacier.
But how to get at it. To approach
from above or below was utterly inn
possible, as only a long, sharp ice
covered lidge led to it; so they linked
themselves together with q strong
rope at their belts, and commenced
to climb the necked "comb," the
eldest first and the youngest after, a
distance of forty feet. But the break
neck venture soon Overpowered the
less experienced of the two; the over
strained brain yielded to terror, and
with his courage his presence of
mind disappears,
A cry Of terror, and he falls! No
seems possible; a parting sigh
to the hearth he left, and he faints.
Only One knows how long he was
unconscious. AT last he revived.
Marvel! he was still hanging by the
sides of the mountain, a couple of
yards under its edge, and with the
saving rope round his waist. He
listened with strained nerves. Was
he not deceived? Shouts in a we'll
known voice greeted him. "DO not
be frightened 1 am balancing you"
And so he was. Quick IS lightning
had ! is comrade not only perceived !
the danger, but comprehended it in
its wholes cope, and with marvel
GUS presence Of mind flung himself
the other side. And there they
both hung!
The situation is, I think, easier !
than described. However,
at length, after many efforts. and in
finite terror, the two friends at last
reached the top again, and once more
reached their homes. thanking
heaven for their deliverance.
To resume my wi narrative. the
first drive brought no luck to me, as
no animal came within range; still [
saw a dozen, and crept as near to the
verge as I dared. Three animals fell
in other quarters, and the reports of
guns echoed among the mountains.
to and fro with long cadenced
while the Alpine eagles,
scared from their nests, scared and
wheeled high above us.
After a few minutes rest we as
higher. l was now placed on
q steep slope-so steep, IN fact, that
it was only with the greatest effort I
managed to cling to the mountain.
followed carrying my
other guu-well, I am afraid L must
make the humble confession, hold.
ing me %also-until I managed, by
means of my alpenstock, to obtain
like a footing.
The drive now commenced from
quarter. Tie same glorious
and grand view, the same solemn
silence, unbroken by any noisy horns
or reports. After half an hours
waiting, when hope had
nearly vanished. I suddenly heard a
rustic below US, behind a big stone
We listen again with doubted atten-
ion in death-like silence. No, moth
Two moments more-two long
moments If expectation-and 10! a
splendid chamois creeps softly for
d below me, its whole attention
Deing fixed on the drive in the
"Attention, aim low,' said Hohe-
1adel. "Fire" The animal stunbles,
he left shoulder is hit, but too low.
Another shot in the back of the fly
ng deer, and it stands overwhelmed
with pain, painting with terror, and
from whence the shot !
came. 'Quick here with the other t
,un!" And by a third shot at a dis {
ance of a hundred yards. the animal ,
alls hit in the shoulder, I believe he
urned a little in the flight. I have ,
till another ball left; the hunting t
ever seizes me, and to a certain ex- c
ent deprives me of GOODNESS. Throw {
the %alpenstock aside and using {
he gun as a staff, 1 began to run ,
lown with great speed. Luckily, {
omething on the ground, whether a :
hrub or a stone L do not r%ecollect, I
overs me just at the moment I re- J
|uire it, and thus l get a fourth shot t
t him. The ball goes through the c
leart, and the horn sounds Allies :
'odt, which is repeated and re.ech- i
ed. a
This was the only animal shot in S
be latter drive-we had four in all;
nine was the largest; "Ein capitaler
The head, with its pointed
ars, its vlgilant eyes and shapely
ose, now adorns my home. My eye
ests on 1t often with keen satisfac-