296 THE IMAGE OF WAR 



leading to it shows how the goats use the only fresh 

 water accessible to them. 



" Although their flight over the stone heaps and less 

 broken ground is a rapid one, it is not so mad as that 

 of the chamois under similar conditions, nor do they 

 cover so much ground at a single bound. ^ A herd, 

 when going along undisturbed, has, if seen from a 

 distance, an extraordinary resemblance both in colour 

 and movement to a herd of chamois in summer coat, 

 especially when there are no old buck ibex in the 

 herd, so much so that one must really ask oneself 

 whether they are really wild goats or chamois. 



** Although the dislike of the ibex for the domestic 

 goat (there are now seven of the latter on the 

 island ^) is so strong, and the places used by the 

 latter are so carefully avoided by the former, there 

 are certainly some cross-bred goats, and these can 

 be recognised by their light colour.^ No doubt these 

 are the descendants of escaped tame goats of an 

 earlier day. Only a few years ago there were six 

 to eight hundred ibex on the island, and now there 

 are perhaps two hundred to two hundred and fifty. 

 Although a good many are shot every year, they 

 multiply rapidly in this mild climate, and the time 

 when this species also ceases to exist should be far 

 distant. 



"Although the Government prohibits the shooting 

 of these animals, the islet is so remote and unwatched 

 that the inhabitants of the adjoining island of 'Cheli- 

 dromia can satisfy their longing for ibex-meat with- 



■ 1 Admitting the last remark to be correct, I still maintain that these 

 ibex and those of Antimilo go quite as fast as a chamois. 

 2 There were none in 1898. 

 ^ I saw one of these light-coloured goats (a buck). 



