Oriental and African Goats. 6 5 



The "Boer Goat of Cape Colony. 



This is a breed that partakes strongly of the Nubian, 

 from which it is no doubt descended, as it shows the 

 same wide pendulous ears, and in a modified form the 

 arched facial line with the protruding under-jaw. 

 Schreiner, in his work on the Angora, states that when 

 the first Europeans landed at the Cape they found the 

 natives in possession of a short-haired variety of goats, 

 practically indigenous to the country, but no goats are 

 recorded as being in the possession of the colonists till 

 1691. The South African goat of the present day, known 

 as the Boer goat, is, however, greatly superior in size and 

 appearance to the original stock, due to " improvements 

 effected by repeated importations of high-class goats of 

 the common varieties of Europe." Judging by the Boer 

 goat of to-day, I should say, rather, to importations from 

 the East, probably of Indian goats, which is another proof 

 of the estimation in which this type of animal was held as 

 a milker over two hundred years ago. Referring to this 

 goat, the writer above mentioned states : " It is a large 

 animal, with powerful legs, a grand carriage, a bold, free 

 step, and wild, prominent eyes. The coat is short, 

 smooth, and coarse, of almost any colour, or combination 

 of colours, frequently being dappled." To show the 

 extent to which these goats are kept in the colony, the same 

 authority adds : " The Boer goats have in many parts of 

 the Midlands and the East been ousted by their beautiful 

 rivals the Angoras ; but still their number, according to 

 the 1891 census returns, amounted to 3,444,019, or about 

 250,000 in excess of the number of Angoras." 



The females, or ewes as they are there called, are 

 kept for the supply of milk, but the males are in most 

 cases castrated, and either killed for their flesh for they 

 fatten readily or used, as they are largely, as leaders to 

 flocks of sheep, being trained to the work and under- 



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