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" only other kind of goat approaching in likeness to it, being the 

 " tahir of the Himalayas. But the latter is altogether a different 

 " species, though bearing in appearance, and the shape of the 

 " horns, some of the characteristics of the former. Our mountain 

 " goat is a sturdy, I may almost say, a massively formed animal, 

 " with short legs, remarkably strong fetlocks, a heavy carcase, 

 " short and well-ribbed up, combining strength with an agility 

 " wonderful to behold. Of late years they have become scarce, 

 " and to meet with a herd exceeding twenty now-a-days is very 

 " improbable. They, alike with the samber, have been persecuted 

 " so incessantly, that they also will be of the past in a very few 

 " years, if no means be taken to insure them some quietude, by 

 " adopting " fence" or " rest" months as already advocated. Not a 

 " great many years ago, ibex could generally be found all along 

 " the precipitous rocks, forming the line of ghauts skirting the hills 

 "from Rungasawmy's Peak to Makoorty, Sispara and Mailkondah. 

 "Now they are with difficulty found at some more favored spot 

 " than others, from which when disturbed they depart and, perhaps, 

 " are not again seen for months. Their habits are gregarious, and 

 "does are seldom met with separate from the flock or herd, 

 " though the males often are. The latter are considerably larger 

 " than the females, and as they grow old, assume a peculiarly dis- 

 " tinctive appearance, by the hair on the back becoming lighter 

 " almost white in some instances ; while that on the flanks darkens, 

 " causing what is called the saddle to appear, and from that time 

 " they become known to shikarries as the " SADDLE BACK" of the 

 " herd, an object of ambition in the eyes of the true sportsman. 



" It is a pleasant sight to watch a herd of ibex when undisturbed, 

 " the kids frisking here and there on pinnacles or ledges of rocks 

 " and beetling cliffs, where there seems scarcely safe foothold for 

 " anything much larger than a grasshopper or a fly ; the old mother 

 " looking calmly on, or grazing steadily while the day is young, 

 " cropping the soft moss or tender herbs and sweet short grass 

 " springing from the crevices of the craggy precipices in rich abund- 

 " ance. Then again, to see the caution observed in taking up their 

 " resting or abiding places for the day, where they may be warmed 

 " by the sun, listening to the roar of many waters, and figuratively, 



