668 THE IBEX. 
owner and attacked him with such ferocity that it left him dead. The males are much 
given to fighting, and in their duels they hurl themselves forward with such furious 
velocity that the shock of their contending heads seems to be sufficient to crush the skulls 
of both combatants. No one knows when a Nylghau will be offended, for it takes offence 
at the veriest trifles, and instantly attacks the object of its dislike. A captive Nylghau 
that once chose to feel insulted because a labourer happened to be passing near its 
domicile, dashed at the man with such violence that it completely shattered the wooden 
paling within which it was confined. 
The Nylghau is not of very great value either to individual hunters or for commercial 
purposes. The hide is employed in the manufacture of shields, but the flesh is coarse and 
without flavour. There are, however, exceptions to be found in the “ hump ” of the male, 
the tongue, and the marrow bones ; which are thought to be rather delicate articles of diet. 
Its gait is rather clumsy, but very rapid, and generally consists of a peculiar long swinging 
canter, which is not easily overtaken, 
GOATS AND SHEEP. 
CLOSELY allied to each other, the Goats and the SHEEP can be easily separated by a 
short examination. In the Goats which will first come under consideration, the horns 
are erect, decidedly compressed, curved backwards and outwards, and are supplied with a 
ridge or heel of horny substance in front. The males generally possess a thickly bearded 
chin, and are all notable for a powerful and very rank odour which is not present in the 
male sheep. 
The JHARAL or JEMLAH Goat (Hemitragus Jemlaicus) is a remarkably handsome 
animal, inhabiting the loftiest mountains of India, and traversing with ease the precipitous 
crags which are inaccessible to almost any wingless beings except themselves. Their 
strongholds, where they pass the night, and to which they fly when alarmed, are situated 
above the line of vegetation, and ‘border upon the limits of perpetual snow. By day 
they descend to feed in little flocks of twenty or thirty im number, each flock being under 
the guidance of an old male, whose mandates they implicitly obey. They are shy 
and cautious animals, and the slightest unaccustomed sound is sufficient to send 
them towards their rocky fastnesses, ever and anon halting and looking back to examine 
the cause of their terror. 
The hair of this animal is extremely long and coarse, hanging mane-like on each side 
of its head and neck. The general colour of the Jharal is a very pale greyish-fawn, 
diversified with a dark streak along the back, and a brown mark on the forehead and front 
of the legs. The horns are very curiously formed. They are very much depressed, and are 
very wide at the base, from whence they spread outwards, and then suddenly narrow into 
a point, which is curled so strongly inwards that the two points nearly meet above the 
neck. Upon their frontal edge are seven small distinct protuberances, becoming gradually 
obliterated as they are set higher upon the horns, and each creating a wrinkle which passes 
nearly round the entire horn. Their colour is greyish-buff. 
Or the genus Capra, which includes several species, the Ibex or STEINBOCK is a 
familiar and excellent example. 
This animal, an inhabitant of the Alps, is remarkable for the exceeding development 
of the horns, which are sometimes more than three feet in length, and of such extra- 
ordinary dimensions that they appear to a casual observer to be peculiarly unsuitable for 
an animal which traverses the cragey regions of Alpine precipices. Some writers say 
that these enormous horns are employed by their owner 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 
