Chamois

(sham'wah.) [Fr. ] The Antilope rupicapra, a species of the group Antelopes (Fig. 160), found only in high mountain regions of Western Europe. It is about the size of a goat, of a deep brown color, and its horns towards the summit are bent abruptly backward like ahook. Their sight, hearing, and smell are so acute, and they are so exceedingly shy, that it is only by the greatest patience and skill that the hunter can approach near enough to shoot them; they are likewise so swift, and leap with such vigor and surene of foot, that to overtake them in a fair chase is next to impo ible;hence the C. hunters of the Alps are obliged to encounter the greatest perils in pursuit of this Fig. 160.- CHAMOIS. favorite game. [s. 163]