3 i8 HOOFED ANIMALS 



the milkseller drives his Goats through the streets, milking 

 at the door of the house the particular animal which the 

 customer prefers. 



Although, like the sheep, the Goat will feed upon grass or 

 hay, it has a decided liking for bark, and is in consequence 

 best kept where it can work no harm to the trunks of young 

 trees. Goats have done much to exterminate shrubby 

 vegetation in Southern Syria, and have thus assisted to 

 keep the country in a desert condition. Goats were in- 

 troduced into St. Helena in 1513. The result has been 

 that the island forests were thinned, involving the total dis- 

 appearance of many valuable trees, among which was the 

 ebony. 



The Goat is not an important animal in the British Isles ; 

 in fact, it is little reared anywhere amid cultivated tracts. 

 In disposition it is more restless, curious, and adventurous 

 than the sheep, and ordinary fences are useless in restricting 

 it to any given area ; and consequently goat-herding is only 

 important where there are tracts of wild land over which 

 the animals can wander almost at will. There are quite 

 a dozen species of wild Goat, and of the domesticated kind 

 there are varieties almost innumerable. A selection of each, 

 therefore, must serve for the whole family. 



ANGORA GOAT (Capra hircus, var.}. 

 Plate XXX. Fig. 2. 



The Angora Goat is one of the most elegant of all the 

 numerous domesticated varieties. It is usually of a milk- 

 white colour, and has black, spreading, spirally-twisted 

 horns and pendulous ears. Its hair, long, wavy, and silky, 

 is of remarkable fineness, and it covers the body of the 

 animal in long spiral ringlets. The herdsmen regularly 

 wash and comb the fleeces to prevent the hair matting 

 and deteriorating. 



The hair was first brought to England under the name 

 ' mohair,' the Turks at first strongly objecting to its expor- 

 tation. Since that time the Angora Goat has been intro- 

 duced with remarkable success into the Southern United 



