SHEEP AND GOAT KIND. 



247 



find in the goat is in that of Natolia. The 

 Natolian goat, or, as Mr. Button calls it, the 

 goat of Jlngora, has the ears longer than ours, 

 and broader in proportion. The male has 

 horns of about the same length with the goat 

 of Europe, but black, and turned very diffe- 

 rently, going out horizontally on each side of 

 the head, and twisted round in the manner of 

 a cork-screw. The horns of the female are 

 shorter, and encircle the ear somewhat like 

 those of the ram. They are of a dazzling 

 white colour, and in all the hair is very long, 

 thick, fine, and glossy ; which, indeed, is the 

 case with almost all the animals of Syria. 

 There are a great number of these animals 

 about Angora, where the inhabitants drive a 

 trade with their hair, which is sold either raw, 

 or manufactured, into all parts of Europe. 

 Nothing can exceed the beauty of the stuffs 

 which are made from the hair of almost all 

 the animals of that country. These are well 

 known among us by the name of camlet. 



A second variety is the Assyrian goat, of 

 Gesner, which is somewhat larger than ours, 

 with ears almost hanging down to the ground, 

 and broad in proportion. 8 The horns, on the 

 contrary, are not above two inches and a 

 half long, black, and bending a little back- 

 wards. The hair is of a fox colour, and un- 

 der the throat there are two excrescences, 

 like the gills of a cock. These animals are 

 chiefly kept round Aleppo for the sake of their 

 milk. They are driven through the streets, 

 and their milk is sold to the inhabitants as 

 they pass along. 



In the third variety may be reckoned the 

 little goat of Africa, which is of the size of a 

 kid, but the hair is as long as that of the or- 

 dinary breed. The horns, which do not ex- 

 ceed the length of a man's finger, are thick, 

 and bend downwards so close to the head 

 that they almost enter the skin. 



There is an animal of this kind at the Cape 

 of Good Hope, called the blue goat, which may 

 be ranked as the fourth variety. It is in 

 shape like the domestic, but much larger, 

 being nearly of the size of a stag. Its hair is 

 very short, and of a delightful blue ; but it 



a M. Sonini assures us, that though the ears of this va- 

 riety are much longer than those of the common goat, 

 they never reach so low as the ground, nor, as has been re- 

 ported, are they ever cropped. 



loses a great deal of its beauty when the ani- 

 mal is dead. It has a very long beard ; but 

 the horns are not so long in proportion as in 

 other goats, being turned spirally, in the man- 

 ner of a cork-screw. It has very long legs, 

 but well proportioned ; and the flesh is very 

 well tasted, but lean. For this reason, in that 

 plentiful country, it is chiefly killed upon ac- 

 count of its skin. It is a very shy animal, and 

 seldom comes near the Dutch settlements; 

 but they are found in great abundance in the 

 more uncultivated parts of the country. Be- 

 sides these, they are found in this extensive 

 region of various colours, and many of them 

 are spotted beautifully, with red, white, and 

 brown. 



In fine, the Juda goat resembles ours in 

 most parts, except in size, it being much small- 

 er. This animal is common in Guinea, An- 

 gola, and all along the coast of Africa ; it is 

 not much larger than the hare, but it is ex- 

 tremely fat, and its flesh admirably tasted. 

 It is in that country universally preferred to 

 mutton. 



These animals seem all of one kind, with 

 very trifling distinctions between them. It 

 is true that they differ in some respects ; such 

 as having neither the same colour, hair, ears, 

 or horns. But it ought to be considered as a 

 rule in natural history, that neither the horns, 

 the colour, the fineness or the length of the 

 hair, nor the position of the ears, are to be 

 considered as making an actual distinction in 

 the kinds. These are accidental varieties, 

 produced by climate and food, which are 

 known to change even in the same animal, and 

 give it a seeming difference of form. When 

 we see the shapes, the inclinations, and the 

 internal conformation of seemingly different 

 creatures nearly the same; and, above all, 

 when we see them producing among each 

 other, we then have no hesitation in pro- 

 nouncing the species, and asserting that these 

 are of the goat kind, with which they are so 

 materially connected. 



But, although these are evidently known to 

 belong to the goat kind, there are others near- 

 ly resembling the goat, of whose kindred we 

 cannot be equally certain. These are such 

 as being found in a state of nature, have not 

 as yet been sufficiently subjected to human 

 observation. Hence it is impossible to deter- 



