54 



CLASS-MAMMALIA. 



ORDER K U M I N A N T I A. 



continent was visited by Europeans. It is a lively, sjiortive, wanton 

 animal, impatient of confinement, fond of solitude, and climbing lofty 

 rugged eminences ; it is easily tamed, and frequently kept in stables, from 

 a notion which grooms have of the strong scent which it emits being 

 invigorating to horses. It is of full age at a year, and the female at seven 

 months, and it becomes old at five years. 



2. The Angora Goat, remarkable for its hair, which curls in long ringlets 

 of eight or nine inches in length, is of a silky texture and of a glossy silvery 

 whiteness ; it is the basis of our camlets, and is sent into this country in 

 the form of thread. 



3. The Syrian Goat(C. Mambrica), characterised by the great length of 

 its ears, which hang down, and occasionally measure two feet long. 



4. The African Goat (C. Depressa) ; 5, the Whidaw Goat (C. Reversa) ; 

 and, 6, the Capricorn Goat, natives of Africa. 



7. The Ibex Goat (C. Ibex), figured on Plate 21, is known by its large 

 knotted horns, reclining backwards, and sometimes three feet long ; its 

 head is small ; the eyes large ; hair rough ; beard dark coloured ; general 

 colour deep brown, mixed with tawny; under parts white; tail short; 

 hoofs short. The females are smaller than the males, and their horns are 

 smaller and have fewer knobs. It inhabits the mountainous parts of the 

 European and Asiatic continents. 



Ovis Sheep. They are distinguished from the Goats by their arched 

 forehead, by the variation in direction and greater extent of curve of the 

 horns, and by not having any beard : beyond these there is no great dis- 

 tinction between the two genera. Their fur is wool ; but this varies in 

 texture according to the difference of climate, as in those which live in 

 warm climates it becomes hairy and very fine, and from such fleeces the 

 Cachemere shawls, formerly supposed to be manufactured of goats' hair, 

 are made. Sheep feed on vegetables, and live in flocks of greater or less 

 number, on high hills or on the tops of mountains. Corsica, Sardinia, and 

 other of the Mediterranean islands, are the parts in which the species most 

 anciently known exist, and whence it is probable our domestic Sheep are 

 derived : others also are found on the chain of the Atlas, in the mountains 

 of Siberia and Kamtschatka, and in America. Whilst in a state of nature 

 they are very strong and active, leap and run with great agility, and have 

 not the silly character they appear to bear in a state of domestication. The 

 people of the various parts of the world in which Sheep are found derive 

 many of the necessaries of life from them. Besides affording its flesh for 

 food and its fat for tallow, the wool in more civilized countries is manu- 

 factured into cloth, whilst the ruder Northern Asiatics wrap themselves up 

 in skins with the wool remaining on it. After the hide is dressed it is 

 made into leather, and by a different process into parchment. Even the 

 intestines are brought into use, and of them is manufactured the article catgut, 

 to which we are indebted for the melodious tones poured forth by a cremona. 



The Wild Sheep (Ovis Ammon) is about the size of a small Deer; the 

 boms of the male are very large and strong, measuring two ells in length ; 

 the horns of the female not so large, hatchetshaped, nearly straight, and 

 greatly resembling those of our Common Goat. Argali is the name given 

 to this species of Sheep by the Kirgisian Tartars, probably from its fre- 

 quenting mountainous districts, as in their language Arga signifies a moun- 

 tain summit, and Giddsha a Ram, of which two words it seems to be 

 compounded ; and from the same cause the Kurilians call it Rikundanotsh, 

 or the Upper Rein Deer ; whilst the Russians designate it as the Stepnai- 

 daran, or Ram of the desert ; Kammenoi, or Rock Ram ; and Dihai, or 

 Wild Ram. It is found in the vast deserts which are called steppes, and 

 upon the mountainous chains of Asia, especially those which extend across 

 the plains of Tartary towards the north-east. Gmelin says that the southern 

 part of Siberia is their original country. They are lively and active ani- 

 mals, and are extremely fearful of man. (Plate 21.) 



The Corsican Sheep (O. Aries), called also the Mauflon, is found in the 

 highest parts of mountainous districts, amongst the most inaccessible peaks, 

 but always in temperate or southern latitudes. They are fierce, dull, and 

 untamable animals. Cuvier and BufFon are of opinion that they are the 

 stock whence the several races of our Sheep have sprung. 



There are several varieties : the Long-legged Sheep (O. Guineensis) ; the 

 Merino or Spanish Sheep (O. Hispanicus) ; the English Sheep (O. Anglicus), 

 the sub-varieties of which are very numerous ; the French Sheep (O. Gal- 

 licus) ; the Many-horned Sheep (O. Polyceratus), of Iceland anil Norway : 

 the Cretan Sheep (O. Strepsiceros), in Crete and Hungary ; the Long-tailed 

 Sheep (O. Dolichura), of Southern Russia ; and the Broad-tailed Slteep (O. 

 Laticaudata), of which there are several varieties. 



Bos Ox. Amongst the variety of animals \vliich have been provided 

 by the bountiful hand of Nature to supply the wants of man, there are none, 

 perhaps, on which the necessaries of life so much depend as on those which 

 compose this genus. From them we are supplied with milk, butter, tallow, 

 hides, and a variety of other articles, too numerous to be detailed here. 



The animals which form this genus live hi herds ; the female generally 

 goes with young between nine and twelve months, and after she has calved, 

 hides her offspring in some unfrequented spot, to which she repairs two or 

 three times a day to suckle it ; should it accidentally be discovered, the 

 cries of the young animal soon bring the herd, which quickly oblige the 

 intruder to retire. 



The species Bull (B. Taurus) is that from which it is supposed our 

 domestic animals are derived, and that the trivial points in which they 

 differ are depending upon accident, or the state in which they live. They 

 are found in all parts of the world, under very trifling differences, de]>ending 

 upon local circumstances. The wild species are to be found in small num- 

 bers in Poland, the Carpathian Mountains, Lithuania, and about Mount 

 Caucasus. The tame species, from which all the improved breeds have 

 originally been formed, are natives of Poland and Holstein, and are the 

 finest and largest. The smallest cattle are to be found in Scotland, and 

 very frequently both males and females have no horns. 



The American Bison (B. Americanus or B. Urus), shown on Plate 21, 

 is considered the largest quadruped next to the Rhinoceros, and is very 

 wild. These animals are remarkably swift, so as easily to escape from the 

 Indians. They are hunted in various parts of America in different modes. 



The Buffalo (B. Bubalus) very much resembles the common Ox ; it is, 

 however, distinguished from it by having the head smaller and ears larger ; 

 the horns are very large. They are found wild in India and Africa, more 

 particularly near the Cape of Good Hope. That daring African hunter, 

 Mr. Gordon Gumming, had several encounters with these animals, his 

 account of one of which we transfer to our pages : 



" After following the other two at a hard gallop for about two miles, I 

 was riding within five yards of their huge broad sterns. They exhaled a 

 strong bovine smell, which came hot in my face. I expected every minute 

 that they would come to bay, and give me time to load ; but this they did 

 not seem disposed to do. At length, finding I had the speed of them, I 

 increased my pace ; and going ahead, I placed myself right before the finest 

 Bull, thus expecting to force him to stand at bay ; upon which he instautlly 

 charged me with a low roar, very similar to the voice of a lion. Colesberg 

 [Mr. C.'s horse] neatly avoided the charge, and the Bull resumed his 

 northward course. We now entered on rocky ground, and the forest 

 became more dense as we proceeded. The Buffaloes were evidently 

 making for some strong retreat. I, however, managed with much difficulty 

 to hold them in view, following as best I could through thorny thickets. 

 Isaac rode some hundred yards behind, and kept shouting to me to drop 

 the pursuit, or I should be killed. At last the Buffaloes suddenly pulled 

 up, and stood at bay in a thicket within twenty yards of me. Springing 

 from my horse, I hastily loaded my two-grooved rifle, which I had scarcely 

 completed when Isaac rode up and inquired what had become of the 

 Buffaloes, little dreaming that they were standing within twenty yards of 

 him. I answered by pointing my rifle across his horse's nose, and letting 

 fly sharp right and left at the two Buffaloes. A headlong charge, accom- 

 panied by a muffled roar, was the result. In an instant I was round a 

 clump of tangled thorn-trees ; but Isaac, by the violence of his efforts to 

 get his horse in motion, lost his balance, and at the same instant, his girths 

 giving way, himself, his saddle, and big Dutch rifle, all came to the ground 

 together, with a heavy crash, right in the path of the infuriated Buffaloes. 



