SHEEP AND GOAT KIND. 



made differently, being annulated or ring- 

 ed round, at the same time that there are 

 longitudinated depressions running from the 

 bottom to the point. They have bunches of 

 hair upon their fore-legs ; they have a streak 

 of black, red, or brown, running along the 

 lower p;jrt of their sides, and three streaks 

 of whitish hair in the internal side of the ear. 

 These are characters that none of them are 

 without; besides these,there are others which, 

 in general, they are found to have, and which 

 are more obvious to the beholder. Of all ani- 

 mals in the world, the gazelle has the most 

 beautiful eye, extremely brilliant, and yet so 

 meek, that all the eastern poets compare the 

 eyes of their mistresses to those of this ani- 

 mal. A gazelle-eyed beauty is considered 

 as the highest compliment that a lover can 

 pay; and, indeed, the Greeks themselves 

 thought it no inelegant piece of flattery to re- 

 semble the eyes of a beautiful woman to those 

 of a cow. The gazelle, for the most part, is 

 more delicately and finely limbed than even 

 the roebuck ; its hair is as short, but finer, 

 and more glossy. Its hinder legs are longer 

 than those before, as in the hare, which gives 

 it greater security in ascending or descend- 

 ing steep places. Their swiftness is equal, if 

 not superior, to that of the roe ; but as the 

 latter bounds forward, so these run along in 

 an even uninterrupted course. Most of them 

 are brown upon the back, white under the 

 belly, with a black stripe separating those 

 colours between. Their tail is of various 

 lengths, but in all covered with pretty long 

 hair; and their earsare beautiful, well-placed, 

 and terminating in a point. They all have a 

 cloven hoof, like the sheep ; they all have 

 permanent horns ; and the female has them 

 smaller than the male. 



Of these animals, Mr. Buffbn makes twelve 

 varieties; which, however, is much fewer 

 than what other naturalists have made them. 

 The first is the gaze/la, properly so called, 

 which is of the size of the roebuck, and very 

 much resembling it in all the proportions of 

 its body, but entirely differing, as was said, 

 in the nature and fashion of the horns, which 

 are black and hollow, like those of the ram 

 or the goat, and never fall. The second he 

 calls the kevel, which is rather less than the 

 former; its eyes also seem larger; and its 



horns, instead of being round, are flatted on 

 the sides, as well in the male as the female. 

 The third he calls i\iecorin, which very much 

 resembles the two former, but that it is still 

 less than either. Its horns also are smaller 

 in proportion, smoother than those of the 

 other two, and the annular prominences be- 

 longing to the kind are scarce discernible, 

 and may be rather called wrinkles than pro- 

 minences. Some of these animals are often 

 seen streaked like the tiger. These three arc 

 supposed to be of the same species. The 

 fourth he calls the zeiran, the horns only of 

 which he has seen ; which, from their size, 

 and the description of travellers, he supposes 

 to belong to a larger kind of the gazelle, 

 found in India and Persia, under that de- 

 nomination. 



The fifth he calls the koba, and the sixth 

 the kob; these two differ from each other 

 only in size, the former being much larger 

 than the latter. The muzzle of these animals 

 is much longer than those of the ordinary 

 gazelle ; the head is differently shaped, and 

 they have no depressions under the eyes. 

 The seventh he calls after its Egyptian name, 

 the algazel; which is shaped pretty much like 

 the ordinary gazelle, except that the horns 

 are much longer, being generally three feet 

 from th 3 point to the insertion; whereas, in 

 the common gazelle, they are not above a 

 foot; they are smaller also, and straighter, 

 till near the extremities, when they turn short, 

 with a very sharp flexure : they are black 

 and smooth, and the annular prominences are 

 scarcely observable. The eighth is called 

 the pazan ; or, by some, the bezoar goat, which 

 greatly resembles the former, except a small 

 variety in their horns; and also with this dif- 

 ference, that as the algazel feeds upon the 

 plains, this is only found in the mountains. 

 They are both inhabitants of the same coun- 

 tries and climates; being found in Egypt, 

 Arabia, and Persia. This last is the animal 

 famous for that concretion in the intestines or 

 stomach, called the oriental be: oar, which was 

 once in such repute all over the world for its 

 medicinal virtues. The word bezoar is sup- 

 posed to take its name either from the pazan 

 or pazar, which is the animal that produces it; 

 or'from a word in the Arabic language, which 

 signifies antidote or counter-poison. It is a stone 

 2T 



