The Wild Goat on Orizaba 231 



the canons in and out until we entered the vale of Ava- 

 lon. I commend this ride on horseback to the hunter 

 who enjoys wild and picturesque situations in mountain 

 and cliff climbing. 



I have hunted the wild goat in boats, the boatman 

 rowing along shore, the animals being found high up on 

 the face of cliffs, and I have often seen them between 

 Pebble Beach and Seal Rocks, where the island shores 

 rise in splendid cliffs. Thousands pass this front, this 

 fortress of rocks, in the course of the year, but it is only 

 when some man is stranded on the beach and can- 

 not climb the cliff, and so reach the town of Avalon, a 

 few miles away, that one realises how impossible it is. 

 I have seen a goat come down the face of this precipice 

 several hundred feet high and find itself unable to get 

 back. It is possible to climb it in places, but the human 

 climber is then often confronted with a series of steep 

 canons that are menacing and dangerous to a novice. 



The wild goat of Santa Catalina is the common goat 

 grown wild, which some one placed upon the island 

 years ago. It has multiplied so that several thousand 

 are to be found, affording excellent sport ; at least I 

 have always had to earn my game in long climbs that 

 well repaid the exertion, if not in game, in the experience 

 and a certain charm of isolation. 



The wild goat has developed certain peculiarities: 

 the horns are often larger, and the bucks sometimes 

 have a heavy development of hair over the chest not 

 seen in the tame goat. The kids are excellent eating, 



