IN THE FAR WEST. 327 



besides the fact that it is the one most generally used in its 

 designation. 



Being a member of the Cavicornia, or hollow-horned family, 

 some naturalists assume that it is deficient in some of the cha- 

 racteristics of a true goat, and to be so closely allied to the 

 antelope as to be in reality a goat-antelope or antelope-goat, 

 or whichever is the true name to apply. Prof. Gray, of the 

 British Museum, has placed it with the European chamois and 

 the mountain goat of the Himalayas in a particular group 

 which he calls goat-like antelopes, and he has given it the 

 specific name of Mazama americana, while he has classified the 

 group under the generic name of Mazame. Unlike the Ameri- 

 can antelope, it does not, however, shed its horns, and it may 

 therefore be assumed to be the connecting link between the 

 antelope and the goat families. In looks and habits it is a 

 true caprus, a fact which one may soon learn by teasing a tame 

 youngster. The head and face are unmistakably those of a 

 goat, but the body seems heavier, deeper, and less rounded than 

 that of the common species. It is about the size of the 

 domestic sheep, and on account of its resemblance to the 

 merino breed, it is often called the mountain sheep in portions 

 of the West, while the true mountain sheep is known as the 

 big-horn. 



There is some excuse for this mistake on the part of those 

 who have no knowledge of Natural History, for its fleece, which 

 is snowy white, hangs down on the sides like that of an 

 ordinary sheep; yet it may- be readily detected from wool by 

 the fact that, though long, it is straight and coarse. It is, 

 however, much finer and softer than the covering of the 

 domestic goat. The inner hair, which is about one and a half 

 inches long on the adult, is fine, soft, fleecy, and tenacious, 

 and is not unlike that of the Angora goat. The outer covering 

 is abundant on the neck, back, shoulders, chest, throat, and 

 thighs, but rather thin on the lower part of the limbs. The 

 tail is short, and though generously clad with long hair, yet 

 it is almost concealed by that which covers the flanks and 

 contiguous parts. A long white and pointed board adorns 

 the chin and completes its capridian appearance. It is purely 



