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" Crusoe. My next and actual introduction to a real live moun- 

 " tain goat, happened on these hills, away at the Neddiwuttum 

 " crags, not far from the public bungalow, at the head of the 

 " Goodaloor Pass, and that brings me to the subject of my present 

 " theme, the Ibex. 



" It happened some years ago, about the time when the first 

 " small clearing had been made in the present Ouchterlony valley ; 

 " then to the eye of the sportsman, one of the most magnificent 

 " forest-clad glens on these hills, beautiful in all the varied aspects 

 " of light and shade, rock and wood, that the mind can imagine ; to 

 " give place, alas I to the hideous coffee shrub, with huts and houses, 

 " and all the signs of civilized life and cultivation, adherent thereto. 

 " Why the planters have set their faces and hands so decidedly 

 " against the picturesque, I am at a loss to understand. On ridding 

 " the land of one lovely object, the forest, why they could not 

 " have combined the beautiful with the useful is incomprehensible ! 

 " A few clumps of trees, a belt of wood here and there, would 

 " have turned an ugly coffee plantation into a park-like, pleasant- 

 " looking domain, combining wood, water, and cultivation, forming 

 " a picture pleasing to every eye ; instead of a mutilated landscape, 

 " with scarcely one redeeming feature, and painful to look upon. 

 " Ah, well ! it is remarkable, but so it is, and so it must be. We 

 " have to forego the " dulce," and accept the " utile ;" drink our 

 " coffee and bless the Ouchterlonys, and all other men devoted to 

 " the same line of hard work, and never-ceasing toil, and be thank- 

 " ful ! ! 



" Let us turn our atttention to the ibex, and see what we have 

 " to say about this fine specimen of the true wild goat ; an animal 

 " in great request as an object of the chase, bearing a good trophy 

 " and requiring all the energies and skill of the most ardent sports- 

 " man to bring to bag. Let us try to show how this is done ; 

 " but first we must give some description of the animal and its 

 " habits, before we take our readers to the field of exploit, and tell 

 " them how to stalk him. 



" The " Neilgherry wild goat," as styled by Jerdon, though I 

 " think " mountain goat" may be a more appropriate term, is a 

 " species of the genus capra, distinctive to Southern India ; the 



