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[Illustration: OPENING OF THE BASE-BALL SEASON--THE FIRST HOME RUN.]

THE IBEX.

The ibex, or steinbok, is an Alpine animal remarkable for the
development of its horns, which are sometimes more than three feet in
length, and of such extraordinary dimensions that they appear to a
casual observer to be peculiarly unsuitable for a quadruped which
traverses the craggy regions of Alpine precipices. Some writers say that
these enormous horns are employed by their owners as "buffers," by which
the force of a fall may be broken; and that the animal, when leaping
from a great height, will alight on its horns, and by their elastic
strength be guarded from the severity of a shock that would instantly
kill any animal not so defended. This statement, however, is but little
credited.

To hunt the ibex successfully is as hard a matter as hunting the
chamois, for the ibex is to the full as wary and active an animal, and
is sometimes apt to turn the tables on its pursuer, and assume the
offensive. Should the hunter approach too near the ibex, the animal
will, as if suddenly urged by the reckless courage of despair, dash
boldly forward at its foe, and strike him from the precipitous rock over
which he is forced to pass. The difficulty of the chase is further
increased by the fact that the ibex is an animal of remarkable powers of
endurance, and is capable of abstaining from food or water for