THE GOAT. 



" THE goat," says Goldsmith, " seems in every re- 

 spect more fitted for a life of savage liberty than the 

 sheep. It is naturally more lively, and more pos- 

 sessed with animal instinct. It easily attaches itself to 

 man, and seems sensible of his caresses. It is also 

 stronger and swifter, more courageous, and more play- 

 ful, lively, capricious, and vagrant ; it is not easily con- 

 fined to the flock, but chooses its own pastures, and 

 loves to stray remote from the rest. It chiefly delights 

 in climbing precipices ; in going to the very edge of 

 danger ; it is often seen suspended on an eminence, 

 hanging over the sea, upon a very little base, and even 

 sleeps there in security." 



In Switzerland, at this day, most of the peasants in 

 a parish possess a few goats, which go out together in 

 the morning in a flock, to the number of perhaps two 

 hundred, and return in the evening. The eyes of the 

 people have long been familiar with these animals and 

 their regular movements, but to those of strangers the 



