THE IBEX AXD PASENG. 



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districts. Varieties occur with large pendulous instead of upright ears ; others with extra horns, 

 occasionally spiral as in Nepaul, or none at all. In the Angora and Cashmere breeds the hair is white. 



The Goat of Cashmere is famous on account of the long and very fine wool with which it is 

 covered, which is employed in the manufacture of Cashmere shawls. It is said that the wool of ten 

 of these Goats is required for the material of a single shawl. 



The IBEX is found in the Alpine heights of Europe and of Western Asia, including the 

 Himalayas. The large scythe-blade-shaped horns of the male curve boldly upwards and backwards, 

 diverging all the way. Along the front of their convex surfaces there is a series of protuberances 

 or partial rings, which are only just indicated laterally. The largest specimens reach three feet 



and a half in height at the shoulder, which is a little less than the length their horns sometimes attain. 

 The body colour is a yellowish-grey, white below, with a dark brown line along the middle of the 

 back. The soft and close-set hair hides an under-fur still finer. The beard is black. European 

 specimens are smaller than those from Asia, rarely exceeding two feet and a half in height, with 

 horns three feet in length. The species inhabits the most precipitous and dangerous parts of mountain 

 regions, and is wonderfully sure-footed. 



The PASENG is the wild Goat of Western Asia ; it is also found on the northern side of the 

 Caucasus and in some of the islands of the ^Egean. In height the male measures two feet and 

 three-quarters at the withers, the female being nearly six inches less. In the male the horns may 

 measure as much as four feet in length. They are flattened, slender, curved backwards as part of a 

 large circle, having their points turned sometimes inwards, so much so as now and again to cross, whilst 

 at others they are directed outwards. Along their anterior edges are protuberances, separated by a 

 greater distance as they approach the tips, indicative of the age of the animal, as after the third year a 



