Miscellaneous, 363 



in all the males of this sort I have seen. Another well-defined 

 variety of goat, of very valuable qualities, comes from the eastern 

 shore of the Persian Gulf. They are of good size with a remarkably 

 stately carriage, and their horns are mostly lyre- shaped, like some 

 breeds of antelopes. Their hair is of moderate length, generally 

 fine and wavy, and long on the posterior portion of the spine, as 

 well as on the fore and hind legs, a little above the hocks and knees. 

 Their udders are of the shape last-mentioned, and they are excellent 

 milkers. I have seen some give as much as three quarts of milk in 

 a day. They are mostly black with fawn- coloured legs, and almost 

 invariably have fawn-coloured marks down the sides of the face. We 

 have a large and small breed from Bengal, with very short legs, both 

 excellent milkers, prolific and hardy. The large breed is almost in- 

 variably coal-black, and when in good condition would furnish about 

 80 lbs. of meat. They frequently produce four at a birth and some- 

 times five, and it is not rare to see their teats touching the ground. 

 The smaller breed is of the same form, but very diminutive, and of 

 all colours; they average from 15 to 18 inches in height and about 

 2j feet in length, and are as prolific as the last-mentioned, and 

 wonderfully precocious. I have seen a female of this breed conceive at 

 ten weeks old, and bring forth a healthy kid, which she reared well. 

 It is very common for them to take the male at three months, but they 

 rarely conceive before the age of four months, and the males are not 

 capable of engendering at less than six months old. As a matter of 

 course, the race deteriorates very much where such premature pro- 

 duction is allowed ; and I have seen a flock dwindle down from a good 

 size to little bigger than rabbits, from a continuation of this bad 

 practice. A very fine breed of goats is brought from Patna and 

 Benares, and among these many are pied in a very uncommon way. 

 They are spotted with brown and fallow, black and gray, and black 

 and white, but the most remarkable appearance consists in the shape 

 of the spots, which are often all circular. These have a something 

 of that convexity of forehead noticed in the first breed I mentioned, 

 but the dewlap is almost entirely wanting. Their horns are gene- 

 rally short, and sometimes bend forward, and at others curl back just 

 encircling the ears, and these are invariably lopped. The last variety 

 I shall mention is from the island of Socotra, and destitute of horns. 

 They are long and low, and generally have very large teats : I have 

 seen some considerably thicker than an ordinary man's wrist. They 

 are very good milkers, and disposed to fatten easily. I fear I have 

 tired you with details which are perhaps stale to you, or if not, 

 possessing little interest. 



" With respect to the marks on the spine and shoulders, and occa- 

 sionally the legs of ponies, I see that they occur much in the same 

 degree as in England ; but they are decidedly most prevalent in 

 those of a dun and mouse colour, both which hues are common 

 among the Javanese and Burmese ponies. I have had additional 

 opportunity of verifying the fact that geldings stand their work as 

 M^ell as entire horses here, both by my own experience, and the 

 testimony of persons of much judgement and observation. Mules 

 are used here almost exclusivelv for plantation work, and we have 



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