THE GOATS 823 



r"' 



The Barbary sheep attains a height of rather over three feet, and is of a nearly 

 uniform pale rufous-yellow color, with the individual hairs differently colored in 

 different parts of their lengths. The females are distinguished from the males by 

 the much shorter hair on the fore quarters, but have horns nearly or quite as long. 

 The horns do not generally exceed twenty-five inches in length, but may reach 

 twenty-six or a little more, and although finely wrinkled in the young are nearly 

 smooth in the adult. 



_. .. . These sheep are generally found alone or in parties of two or three, 



and are sparsely distributed over the more precipitous regions of the 

 arid southern slopes of the Atlas range, from the Atlantic to Tunis. They are un- 

 known in the interior of the range near the coast, always keeping within sight of the 

 desert, and capable, according to Arab reports, of going several days without water. 

 Their color harmonizes admirably with the limestone rocks of their native mountains. 

 TT .-, Mr. E. N. Buxton observes that the Arabs are in the habit of pitch- 



ing their tents near the scanty springs frequented by these sheep, and 

 daily lead their goats high up the mountains. Consequently, the arui have ' ' no 

 means of escaping from them, as every mountain within reach of water is similarly 

 infested. They are constantly within sight and hearing of the Arabs and their 

 goats, and as they cannot get away they have developed the art of hiding themselves 

 to an extraordinary extent, and they have unlimited confidence in their own invisi- 

 bility. This was demonstrated to me one evening when I sat for twenty minutes 

 carefully spying the surrounding country. The knoll on which I sat commanded 

 a small shallow hollow. In this there was not a vestige of cover except a few thin 

 thuya bushes which looked as if they could not hide a rat. It was not till I rose to 

 shift my position that a female arui and two yearlings started from these bushes. 

 They had been lying within sixty yards of me, and must have been fully conscious 

 of my presence all the time. The arui, in this habit of hiding, is very like the 

 Pyrenean ibex, which lives in rather similar ground, and also trusts to concealment 

 in preference to flight. ' ' 



In Algeria the .rams of this species are distinguished 2&fechtal, the ewes as massa, 

 and the lambs as charuf. 



THE GOATS 

 Genus Capra 



The two preceding species of sheep connect the more typical representatives of that 

 group so intimately with the goats that there is some difficulty in drawing up a list 

 of characteristics which will satisfactorily distinguish between the two. The males of 

 all the goats are, however, characterized by the possession of a peculiar strong odor, 

 while they very generally have a beard on the chin. None of them have any gland 

 on the face below the eye (in which respect they resemble the bharal and Barbary 

 sheep) ; and they differ from all the sheep in the absence of any glands between the 

 hoofs of the hind-feet, while in some cases these glands are likewise wanting in the 

 fore-feet. In all cases the tail is short; and there are peculiar hard patches, or cal- 

 losities, on the knees, and in some instances also on the chest. The skull of a goat 



