36 THE GOAT. 



as long as upon the ordinary breed ; and the horns, 

 which do not exceed the length of a man's finger, 

 grow inverted, close to the head. 



At the Cape of Good Hope there is another animal of 

 this nature, which derives its name from the colour of the 

 hair. The Blue Goat is in shape like the domestic, but 

 infinitely larger, and near the size of a stag. The hair 

 is a beautiful bright blue, though the colour changes as 

 soon as the creature is dead : its beard is very thick and 

 long, but the horns are not by any means proportioned 

 to the size; the legs are longer than tjie common goat, 

 but the flesh is allowed to be superior in taste. In many 

 parts of that extensive country, great varieties in the 

 species of the goat may be seen, some of which are beau- 

 tifully marked with spots of red, white, and brown. 



The Juda goat resembles ours in form, though in size 

 it scarcely exceeds a hare ; it is common in Guinea and 

 the African coast, and is much admired for the delicacy 

 of its taste. 



These animals seem all of one kind, or merely vary in 

 a slight degree; for when we know the shape and the in- 

 ternal form the same, they may justly come under the 

 description of one race: but although these are evidently 

 known to belong to one family, there are other animals 

 resembling the goat, which, from the wildness of their 

 nature, we cannot speak of with the same degree of cer- 

 tainty and precision ; neither can we determine whether 

 they are quadrupeds of a particular kind, or merely the 

 goat in a state of savage freedom. 



The ibex and shammoy are natives of the Alps, the 

 Pyrenees, and the Grecian mountains, where their num- 

 bers are so large that they continue to abound both 

 in spite of the hunters and beasts of prey, who seem 

 jointly to endeavour to destroy their race. The ibex, in 



