9-8 



LETTER XVIf. 



and Kamtschadales, extremely difficult and dangerous. 

 The musmons of Kamtschatka grow to the size- of a 

 young stag, and are said to be so strong, that ten men 

 are hardly able to hold one of them. The horns are 

 also extremely large, and are made use of for a va- 

 riety of purposes. This animal is found in the un- 

 cultivated and mountainous parts of Greece, Sardinia, 

 and Corsica, and -also in the desert plains of Tartary. 

 In the swiftness of its running, it resembles (her deer 

 more than either the sheep or the goat. As it has 

 been known to breed with the common sheep, Button, 

 and many other naturalists, have supposed it to be the 

 primitive race of that animal. Whether or not thig 

 be the case, is, however, a problem of which the so- 

 tion is difficult, if not impossible. 



THE COMMON GOAT 



Occupies the next place in the scale of animal ex- 

 istence, and although inferior in utility to the sheep, 

 has in many respects a visible affinity to that quadru- 

 ped ; but the services of the latter cause the goat to 

 be held in less estimation, and its domestication and 

 improvement to be considered as an object less worthy 

 of attention. The goat is more hardy than the sheep, 

 and in every respect better adapted to a state of li- 

 berty. It is stronger, swifter, and more playful ; not 

 easily confined to a flock, but chusing its own pas- 

 ture ; it delights to roam at large. It is easily sus- 

 tained, and appears to have a stronger inclination for 

 liberty than for delicacy of food. For this reason it 

 is valuable chiefly to the inhabitants of wild and moun- 

 tainous countries, where it finds an ample supply 

 from the spontaneous productions of nature in situa- 

 tions inaccessible to most other quadrupeds. Goats 

 climb the loftiest rocks, and stand secure on the brink 

 of the most abrupt precipices ; for this purpose their 

 feet are admirably formed by nature, the hoofs being 

 hollowed underneath with sharp edges, resembling 

 the inside of a spoon, which prevents them from slid- 

 ing oil' the craggy rocks which they frequent. This 

 singular conformation of the feet of this animal exhi- 

 bits a remarkable instance of the wisdom and goodness 



