CHAPTER II 



MY FIRST IBEX 



A CLEAR idea of the ibex and his ways is 

 necessary to the proper understanding of 

 my account of my first day after ibex. 



The ibex is a goat, standing about as 

 high as a donkey, and very massively 

 built, with horns which sweep up and back 

 in one regular graceful curve. A good 

 horn should be over 35 inches long, and 10 

 to 1 1 inches in circumference at the base. 

 He lives to a great age, sometimes it is 

 said reaching fifty years. The beasts them- 

 selves vary a good deal in colour ; the big- 

 gest are generally piebald, that is, have a 

 black head and neck, a beard ten inches 

 long, black at the base and whitish at the 

 ends, a light yellowish body, with black 

 stomach and legs, and a black stripe down 

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