FAMILY CAPRICE; CASHMIR GOAT, IBEX. 307 



the hair is still more remarkable in the Cashmir Goat, a native 

 of Thibet ; from which material are woven the Cashmir shawls, 

 that are so highly valued in Europe. The quantity of wool 

 produced by each goat is not above three ounces ; and ten goats 

 are required to furnish sufficient wool for a shawl, a yard and a 

 half square. The wool collected in Thibet is sent to Cashmir, 

 where it is manufactured ; and a long and toilsome journey must 

 be traversed before the shawls can be transmitted to Europe. 

 Attempts have been made, but with what success cannot yet be 

 known with certainty, to naturalise the Cashmir Goat in Europe ; 

 the most promising result has been obtained by crossing the 

 Thibet and Angora breeds, the mixed race being in all respects 

 superior to both the parent stocks, and producing in one season 

 thirty ounces of hair, finer and longer than that obtained from 

 either of them. 



273. All these varieties have small horns ; and they are thus 

 distinguished from the Ibex, a genus in which the body is more 

 robust, and the horns very large. The Caucasian Ibex, a bold 

 and powerful animal, is an inhabitant of the alpine heights of 

 Europe and Western Asia ; and its chase is as arduous as that of 



FIG. 158 JEMLAH IBEX. 



the Chamois. "When hard pressed, the Ibex has been known to 

 turn upon its foe with impetuous rapidity, and to hurl him head- 



x 2 



