34 THE GOAT. 



goat are not held in repute, because they cannot vie 

 with the sheep ; yet were the horse and the sheep re- 

 moved from nature, those animals would then be more 

 justly prized, and the same pains might be taken to 

 render them invaluable, which has been used so suc- 

 cessfully with the other breed. 



The goat seems, in every respect, much more calcu- 

 lated for a life of liberty than its more indolent compe- 

 titor the sheep : stronger, livelier, swifter, and more 

 playful, it does not easily submit to be confined, but 

 roams about in search of such provision as it most re- 

 lishes for general food : its chief delight is in climbing 

 precipices, and it is often seen frisking upon an emi- 

 nence that hangs suspended over a roaring sea. Na- 

 ture, it is true, has in great measure fitted it for tra- 

 versing these declivities with safety and ease, for the 

 hoof is hollow underneath, with sharp edges, so that 

 it could walk securely on the brink of a house. 



Sensible of kindness, and grateful for attention, it soon 

 becomes attached to man ; and as it is very hardy, and 

 easily sustained, it is generally the property of those who 

 earn their daily bread : fortunately for the animal this is 

 no hardship, as they neglect the cultivated fields of art, 

 and love to graze on the mountain's rocky sides: its favour- 

 ite food is the tender bark of trees, shrubs, and boughs; 

 and it is capable of enduring the most immoderate heat : 

 the milk is sweet, nourishing, and medicinal, and not so 

 apt to curdle upon the stomach as that of the cow : the 

 peculiarity of the animal's food gives it a remarkable 

 flavour, but after a time it is pleasant to the taste. 



In several parts of Ireland, and the Highlands of Scot- 

 land, the goat is the chief riches the inhabitants possess, 

 and supplies the hardy natives with the few indulgences 

 their situation permits them to enjoy in life. They lie 



