THE MOUNTAIN GOAT AS WE SAW HIM 95 



of rock, harder than that above it, which had disinte- 

 grated more slowly than the rest of the wall, and left a 

 projecting rim; but if so, our glasses failed to show it. 

 The spectacle we saw was of a big goat briskly prome- 

 nading on nothing, straight across the face of a bare wall. 

 We watched him with bated breath, as one watches a 

 steeple-jack who is repairing a finial; and for my part, 

 I would not have shot him for a hundred dollars. To 

 have killed him as he traced out that dizzy path would 

 have been murder, no less; and think of the unforgetable 

 horror of his fall through space upon that jagged slide- 

 rock! 



Among naturalists, a good deal has been said about 

 the inappropriateness of calling this animal a " goat." 

 Some have laid stress upon its antelope-like characters, 

 and some have seriously proposed, and even used, the 

 name " goat antelope." If the mountain goat has about 

 him anything that is particularly like the typical ante- 

 lopes, it must be very deep down in his anatomy, for 

 thus far it never has been pointed out. Think of an 

 antelope with a form like a pygmy bison, carrying its 

 head lower than its shoulders! Certainly the resem- 

 blance alleged is not found in his massive hoofs, his short 

 cannon bone, his six-inch tail, his thick and postlike 

 legs, or his two humps. The strange glands behind his 

 horns are absolutely unique. His shoulder hump is like 

 that of the European bison, but the hair-hump on his 

 hindquarters is not reproduced on any other animal. His 

 hairy coat is as unlike that of all antelopes now living 

 as could possibly be imagined. His huge, india-rubber 



