( 43 ) 



CHAPTER VII. 



GOJ&T. 



" The mountain's brow, 

 Where sits the shepherd on the grassy turf, 

 Inhaling, healthful, the descending sun; 

 Around him feed his many-bleating flock, 

 Of various cadence ; his sportive lambs and goats, 

 This way and that convolv'd, in friskful glee, 

 Their frolics play." THOMSON. 



WE shall now proceed to the description of another kind of 

 animal, which, although in some respects it bears a considerable 

 resemblance to the sheep, differs from it so widely in others, as 

 to give evident proofs of a distinction of species. This you will 

 readily perceive to be the Goat, which, in some countries, is es- 

 teemed no mean substitute for the highly useful animal which was 

 the subject of the last chapter. Before we proceed in this view 

 of the works of nature, we must cast a glance at a creature 

 which seerns to be so nearly allied to each of the two species, 

 as to form one of those connecting links which we so often per- 

 ceive in the continued chain of animal existence. 



THE MUFFLON, OR MUSMON, 



So much resembles, in some respects, the sheep, and in others, 

 the goat, that it has, by different naturalists, been classed with each 

 of the two species. Its horns resemble those of the ram ; they are 

 bent backward, and in all their convolutions sometimes measure 

 from five to seven feet in length. The old rams of this kind often 

 have desperate conflicts, and sometimes precipitate one another 

 from the summits of the rocks which they frequent. From their 

 covering, which is hair, they seem to participate more of the 

 species of the goat than of that of the sheep, and they appear 

 to partake of the disposition of the former, in frequenting the 

 highest and most rugged parts of mountainous countries. This 

 renders the hunting of the musmon, which is much practised by 

 the Tartars and Kamtschntdales, extremely difficult and dan- 

 gerous. The musmons of Kamtschatka grow to the size of a 

 young stag, and are said to be so strong, that ten men are hardly 

 able to hold one of them. The horns are also extremely large, 

 and are made use of for a variety of purposes. This animal is 

 found in the uncultivated and mountainous parts of Greece, Sar- 

 dinia, and Corsica, and also in the desert plains of Tartary. In 

 the swiftness of its running, it resembles the deer more than 

 either the sheep or the goat. As it has been known to breed 



