G O A T. 



64,3 



swept down to the naked rock, and ruined by the 

 debris and rubbish the meadows at their bases. In 

 situations where there is also a sprinkling of goats, it 

 does not appear, at least so far as our observation has 

 gone, that either of these consequences takes place, 

 at least anything like so speedily ; hence the admix- 

 ture of cattle, sheep, arid goats, and the judicious 

 adaptation of the numbers of each to the natures of 

 the pastures, is a point well-worthy the utmost atten- 

 tion of those who are proprietors of our mountainous 

 districts, or otherwise take an interest in it. If the 

 habits and feeding of useful animals, and the nature of 

 soils and climates, and the progressive history of their 

 vegetation were a little more studied,it would be all the 

 better for the country ; for there is no doubt that this 

 species of ignorance does more real injury than is 

 generally believed. 



If plantations are an object, as they always are 

 near the sea, for the sake of the bark and charcoal 

 which can be afforded by judicious coppice cultiva- 

 tion, goats cannot be introduced without occasioning 

 mischief, in consequence of the proneness which they 

 have to bark the trees in winter, and gnaw the buds 

 and twigs in the spring. 



All the species of wild goats, which are not indeed 

 very numerous, are remarkable for their activity among 

 their native rocks; and though in forward running 

 they are not probably equal to many of the antelopes, 

 their single bounds, and the situations in which they 

 take them, are superior to those of any other animals. 

 If there is the least hold for their feet, so that they 

 can get a point of rest for an instant, and thereby ac- 

 quire an impetus, they will ascend a perpendicular 

 wall or precipice fifteen feet in height ; and it is 

 astonishing how little hold will sustain them, and how 

 speedily they will renew their leaps. It is generally 

 said, and the saying is probable, that when they do 

 lose their balance, and fall from the precipices, they 

 contrive to fall upon their horn?, in the same manner 

 as a cat alights on its feet, and that they thus can 

 tumble from a height of fifty or even a hundred feet 

 without sustaining the slightest injury. Those which 

 are found in the more elevated and rocky mountain?, 

 are represented as being able to ascend a considerable 

 way between the perpendicular sides of a ravine. 

 How they do this, and contrive to bound from side 

 to side of the chasm, is not easily explained upon any 

 principle of common animal mechanics ; but it has 

 been so frequently stated by authors whose descrip- 

 tions are generally to be credited, that it cannot well 

 be denied. How far the elasticity of the horns may 

 aid them in this singular species of ascent, is not a 

 matter that has been determined, or one which is easy 

 to determine ; but still the goat does ascend by leap- 

 ing against one of the opposing faces of the rock, an<: 

 alighting on the opposite face ; so that the whole o 

 the motion bears some analogy to an oblique billiard 

 ball strikincr alternately on opposite cushions of a 

 table, though the horns strike the one side and the 

 feet the other. How these act so as to give an up- 

 ward motion to the animal is a point not easily deter- 

 mined ; but it is one which is worthy of study. 



The boldness, dexterity, and hardihood of the goa 

 among rocks, renders the wild goat one of the tn<>? 

 hazardous species of game for the mountain hunters 

 They are exceedingly vigilant ; and when alarmed or 

 rendered suspicious, they can escape upwards, auc 

 they are said sometimes "to throw themselves down 

 upon the hunters, and tumble them upon the rocka 



n which case the hunter is dashed to pieces while the 

 mountain goat falls on its horns, and escapes unhurt. 

 Goats utter various sounds according to their age. 

 md the feeling with which they are impressed at the 

 ime. The kids or young ones bleat, and their bleat- 

 ng, though sharp, is not unpleasant. When the older 

 ones are alarmed, they utter a peculiar sort of whistle ; 

 and their general sound when preparing to repel dan- 

 ger is an indescribable sort of spluttering. In those 

 wild places the females are strongly attached to their 

 voung ones ; and a she-goat of the mountain tops can 

 defend her kids from the wolf and the eagle with 

 equal success. 



Altogether they are animals of great interest, 

 whether we regard their picturesque form, their 

 vigorous action, or the readiness with which they can 

 be domesticated, and the strength of their attachment 

 to man when they are in that state. There is another 

 point connected with the domestication of goats which 

 is worthy of attention ; and that is the great prone- 

 ness which they have to break into varieties, accord- 

 ing as their pastures differ. This tendency is one of 

 the most remarkable evidences we have of the capacity 

 of domestication in animals ; and it is remarkable 

 that the most domesticated variety differs from what 

 we consider the unbroken natural species ; it is 

 always the more gentle in its disposition. Some re- 

 marks on this subject will be found on looking back 

 to the article CAT, in a former part of this work ; and 

 we may repeat, that animals of that species which 

 differ the most from the common brindled wild cat, 

 such, for instance, as the three-coloured tortoise-shell 

 cat, and the cat of Angora, are the most gentle in 

 their manners. It is exactly the same with goats ; 

 and wherever there is a great departure from what is 

 considered as the wild type, there is a corresponding 

 gentleness of manners and attachment to mankind on 

 the part of the animal. 



The species of goats are but few compared with the 

 numbers of the animals, and their general distribution 

 over the globe ; and from the tendency above men- 

 tioned of breaking into varieties, it. is not very easy 

 to say which ought and which ought not to be consi- 

 dered as a species. We shall therefore confine our 

 observations to those which are the most definitely 

 ascertained. 



THE WILD GOAT (C. ^gragrns), is generally under- 

 stood to be the parent stock of all the domesticated 

 varieties of goats, much as these differ from each other 



in ijo.u. 



It is the pasenz of the Persians, and the bezoar goat 

 of some other" eastern nations, a concretion called 



bezoar bein; 



sometimes found in its stomach. 

 S S2 



The 



