On the Wild Godt of the Alps. I5f 



the common goxt, are furniflied only with one longitudinal 

 ridge. They ai-e fomcwhat thicker than thofe of that animal, 

 and have a few fmall knots on the ridge. 



The female, in ftane, habit of body, and the figure of its 

 horns, has a great refcmblance to a common he goat that has 

 been caftrated. When fuckling, it has two teats like the 

 common Hie goat; and the feet are fmaller in proportion than 

 ibofc of the male; they arc fliarper, and not fo round. The 

 female wild goat has no beard : according to the hunters, the 

 males arc not always proviilcd wiih one; and, when they arc, 

 it is not more than two inches in length. This is one of the 

 differences which appear to exift between our wild goats and 

 thofe of Siberia ; the males of which have always a very large 

 beard, and the females a fmall one. 



The wild goat has different cries; the mofl common is a 

 fliort {];)ill whittle, verv like ihafof the chamois, but with 

 this diflerence, that the whillie of the latter is longer: fome- 

 times it makes a noifc by brcnthing through its noftrils ; and, 

 when young, it has a fniall kind of bleating, which it lofes as 

 it grows old. 



The wild goat which I faw at 1' A igle was exceedingly gentle 

 and tame : its attachment to the common goat, which fuckled 

 it, was verv ftrong, though it no longer fuckrd : often when 

 it was on the lop'of the houlc, or in other places inacceflible 

 to the common goat, and when the latter fecmed uneafy, 

 and called to it by her bleating, it immediately returned. 



This animal has not a lively and active look ; its ftcp is 

 flow, and it feems to poflefs great curiofity; all its move- 

 ments fecm to be directed by a fpirit of reflection, and it 

 appears never to decide till after mature deliberation. Has 

 it this in common \\ ith mountaincc^rs, w ho differ in To many 

 refped-ts from the inhabitants of tlic plains? Confidcring 

 the airilily of this animal among the rocks, it appeared on' 

 the fii^ll view as if oi)prefred with the weight of the atmo- 

 fpherc of the level country, and adonifhcd to find itfclf on 

 ground for which it was not formed. Biit, when it had tj> 

 climb, that heavy and cndjarralled air fccmcd entirely to dif- 

 appear : it became adle, and all its movements wer6 per- 

 f6rmed in a gracefiil manner; it lcaj)od on the tops of the 

 houfes and on walls with the greated light"<-'fii and eafc. f 

 beheld it with admiration, in one of the' interior eoiu-ts of 

 the call 1p of I'Aigle, at two leaps mount a wall, withottt 

 any other fiippoit^lhari the fmall projecti(vn of Hones K-fl by 

 the mortar having dropped urt"; and, at a third leap, jump 

 \\\n,n another wail, which formed a right angle with the Inr- 

 lii' r. h bcjran bv placing ilielf oppofilc to the fpoi which 



