14 THE GOAT. 



the Goats of the settled inhabitants and nomadic tribes 

 are in prodigious numbers. These Goats are thickly covered 

 with long coarse hair, usually of a dark hue ; but in the cul- 

 tivated countries, they vary greatly in colour and other cha- 

 racters. In the northern provinces of China, there are Goats, 

 of a small size, which yield wool as abundantly as the sheep 

 of the same country. Extending over the varied surface of 

 Hindostan, the Goats assume a prodigious diversity of colour, 

 aspect, and form. Sometimes they have horns, and some- 

 times they are destitute of horns ; sometimes they have long 

 pendulous ears ; sometimes they have a short fur, like that 

 of a fawn, and sometimes fine silky hair falling in glossy 

 ringlets on each side of the dorsal line. The largest of the 

 Goats of Hindostan are brought from Caubul, Thibet, and the 

 high lands of Persia. 



In the Turkish dominions in Asia, the races of Goats are 

 greatly varied, and often very beautiful. The Goat of Angora 

 is the native of a district of Asia Minor, and is remarkable 

 for its long waving silky hair, which is spun into threads, of 

 which a kind of camblet is made, esteemed beyond all other 

 cloths of the East for its durability. The Goats of Angora 

 have been brought to France, where they have become readily 

 naturalized, and do not appear to be more tender than the 

 common kinds. They have been carried likewise to Sweden ? 

 and other parts of Europe ; but it may be believed that, after 

 a time, they will lose that peculiar softness of the hair which 

 characterises them in their native country. The soil of An- 

 gora is a chalky marl, which seems to have the property of 

 communicating to the animals that live upon it a silky tex- 

 ture of the hair. The Dog and Cat of the same country are 

 distinguished by the glossy softness of their fur, and are very 

 beautiful. 



Of the other Goats of Asiatic Turkey, one is so peculiar, 

 that it is plainly to be referred to an origin distinct from that 

 of the Common Goats. It is frequently termed the Syrian 

 Goat, though it is not confined to Syria, but extends, by the 



