236 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



Summer and grey in Winter. It haunts craggy districts in South- 

 Western Asia, and travels about in herds. Probably no domestic 

 animal is so easily acclimatized as the Goat; cold and heat come 

 alike to it, and it thrives well no matter in what part of the world 

 it happens to be stationed. 



HIMALAYAN SEROW, OR GOAT- ANTELOPE.— This is the last 

 species which it is proposed to include in the present section, and 

 Fig. 188 will afford the reader a good general idea of the kind of 

 beast it is with which we are now concerned. There is more than 

 one species, and all have thick coats, short backward-curved horns, 

 and are stoutly built. In size they have been compared to a 

 Donkey, "and rather resembling one owing to their long ears." 



The Serows vary a great deal in colour, and they range from 

 the Himalayas to Sumatra and Tibet. The species illustrated is 

 black for the most part, tan colour on the flanks, with white on 

 the legs and belly. It is not a common animal by any means, being 

 of a solitary disposition and inhabiting hillsides where forests and 

 rocks afford it necessary cover. 



Its looks belie its habits, for although "awkward and uncouth " 

 at first sight and when seen in captivity, in its native haunts it is 

 of active disposition, possesses indomitable pluck, and rather than 

 make good its own escape will fight without hesitation if its mate 

 happens to be wounded. It is an adept at going down steep hill- 

 sides, and although exhibiting an awkward gait it manages to over- 

 come insuperable obstacles during its wanderings, and if only on 

 account of the courage it displays when its partner is wounded, is a 

 worthy beast with which this chapter may be brought to a close. 







