270 ANIMALS OF THE 



and barren, the goat is fitted to find a scanty sub- 

 sistence ; between the tropics, where the heat is 

 excessive, the goat is fitted to bear the climate, 

 and its flesh is found to improve. 



One of the most remarkable varieties we find in 

 the goat is in that of Natolia. The Natolian goat, 

 or, as M. Buffon calls it, the goat of Angora, has 

 the ears longer than ours, and broader in propor- 

 tion. The male has horns of about the same length 

 with the goat of Europe, but black, and turned 

 very differently, 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 in- 

 habitants 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 Ges- 

 ner, which is somewhat larger than ours, with 

 ears almost hanging down to the ground, and 

 broad in proportion. The horns, on the contra- 

 ry, are not above two inches and a half long, 

 black, and bending a little backwards. The hair 

 is of a fox colour, and under the throat there are 

 two excrescences like the gills of a cock. These 



