104 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE ROCK GOAT, OR IBEX. 



THE best account which we have of this creature, is furnished by 

 the late Mr. Charles Taylor, from whom we have selected the mar 

 terials for the following article. 



There are three places in scripture where an animal of the goat 

 kind is mentioned, either directly, or by allusion, 1 Sam. xxiv. 2, 

 'Saul went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats :' 

 literally, on the superfices, or on the face of the rocks of the IOLIM. 

 Psalm civ. 18: 'The high mountains to the Ibices, (louai) are a 

 refuge ; rocks are the refuge to the Saphanim. 1 But there is a third 

 passage where it is more distinctly referred to, and its manners de- 

 scribed at greater length : in our translation, * Knowest thou the 

 time when the wild goats of the rocks bring forth? Canst thou 

 mark when the hinds do calve ? Canst thou number the months 

 they fulfil ? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth ? They 

 bow themselves : they bring forth their young ones ; they cast out 

 their sorrows. Their young ones are in good liking ; they grow up 

 with corn; they go forth, and return not to them,' Job xxxix. 14. 

 A fourth passage presents this creature, the IOLEH, in a feminine 

 form : ' Let thy wife be as the loving hind, and the pleasant roe,' 

 Proverbs v. 19. 



The specific character of the Bouquetin, or rock goat, is taken 

 from the beard and horns, which are knobbed along the upper or 

 anterior surface, and recline towards the back. The wild goat is 

 larger than the tame goat, but resembles it much in the outer form. 

 The head is small in proportion to the body, with the muzzle thick 



