830 



animals' habitat a coat of woolly under- fur is developed beneath the hair. In win- 

 ter the general color of the upper parts is brownish gray, tending in summer to yel- 

 lowish or rufous brown; the under parts and the inner sides of the buttocks being 

 whitish or white. In the older bucks, the general color is, however, paler; a stripe 

 down the back, the tail, the chin, throat, and beard, the front of the legs, with 

 the exception of the knees, and a stripe along the flanks are dark brown. There is 

 also a certain amount of white on the lower part of the legs. 



An adult male, measured by Captain Hutton, stood thirty-seven inches at the 

 withers. Good horns of the paseng measure forty inches along the curve; but in 

 one specimen killed near Karachee, the length was upward of fifty-two and one-half 

 inches, with a basal girth of seven inches. 



The range of this species is extensive, and was formerly even more so 

 than it is at the present day. There is evidence that in classic times 

 this goat was widely distributed over the Grecian Archipelago; although in Europe 

 it is now found only in Crete, the island of Anti-Melo in the Cyclades, and perhaps 

 also in Giura, to the northeast of Eubcea. Eastward it is found in the hills and 

 mountains of Asia Minor, being especially common in the Taurus range; and it ex- 

 tends thence through Persia into Baluchistan, Sind, and Afghanistan. In India its 

 range does not extend beyond the western side of Sind, as eastward and northeast 

 of the Bolan Pass and Quetta its place is taken by the markhoor. Found in Sind and 

 Baluchistan in hills little above the sea level, in the mountains of Persia it ascends 

 to elevations of eleven or twelve thousand feet. 



Habits ^ e P asen g i s an extremely active animal, chiefly frequenting craggy 



and rocky districts, and taking leaps of great length with unerring 

 precision. Although such a feat has been expressly denied by all competent au- 

 thorities as occurring among the sheep, it is recorded by a trustworthy observer, 

 that one of these goats, which had missed its footing, saved itself by alighting on its 

 horns. Writing of this species in Persia, St. John observes that "in spite of the 

 constant persecution to which it is subjected, it exists in vast numbers. On the 

 Kuh-i-barf, a not very lofty or extensive hill, constantly shot over, near Shiraz, I 

 once counted over a hundred in a herd, which had been driven together by two days' 

 consecutive fusilade from half a dozen shikaris. . . . The ibex," as Sir Oliver 

 calls the animal, "is marvelously shy and wary. In my earlier residence in Persia I 

 spent many a weary day after them, but never managed to bag a buck. Even 

 native sportsmen, though admirable shots, and thoroughly familiar with every nook 

 and cranny of the hills, rarely get one by fair stalking, most of those killed being 

 obtained by building a wall of loose stones near water, and shooting the goats when 

 drinking. The males drink in the morning and evening only, but the females, in 

 hot weather, at least, drink also at midday. While putting up the telegraph about 

 sixty miles north of Shiraz, in 1864, I came suddenly upon a herd of twenty or more 

 does and kids, drinking by the roadside, a couple of hundred yards from the foot of 

 the hills. Except when alarmed, bucks and does seem to keep apart. ' ' 



^ In Sind and Baluchistan these goats inhabit barren rocky hills, but in parts of 

 Asia Minor they are found on forest-clad uplands. In such localities, according to 

 Mr. E. N. Buxton, they may of ten be found within hearing of the drovers on the roads, 



