THE WILD GOAT,k 379 



ears in Egypt*, and in the Eaft Indies f, as 

 well as in Syria. They yield a great deal of 

 fine milk J, which the natives of the eaft prefer 

 to that of the cow or buffalo. 



With regard to the fmallgoat which Linnaeus 

 faw alive, and which produced with the Ameri- 

 can chamois, it muft, as formerly remarked, 

 have been originally tranfported from Africa ; 

 for it fo ftrongly refembles the he-goat of Africa, 

 that it is unqueftionably the fame fpecies; or, at 

 leaft, it has fprung from the fame flock. In A- 

 frica it is fmall; and it would become ftill lefs 

 in America ; and we learn, from the teftimony 

 of travellers, that fheep, hogs, and goats, have 

 frequently, and forfeveral ages back, been tranf- 

 ported from Africa, as well as Europe, into A- 

 merica, where they ftill fubfift, without any- 

 other change than a diminution of fize. 



After examining the different varieties of goats, 

 of which the nomenclators have made nine or 

 ten different fpecies, I am convinced that they 



ought 



* Ex capris complures funt ( in JEgypto ) quae ita aures 

 oblongas habent, ut extremitate terram uique contingant ; 

 Pro] per Alpin. hiji. JEgypt. lib. 4./. 229. 



\ At Pondicherry, there are kids which differ much from 

 ours. They have large pendulous ears ; and their aipedt is 

 mean and filly. -Their flelh, though bad, is fometimes eaten ; 

 Nouveau voyage, par le Sieur Luilier, p. 30. 



X Goats are remarkable for the length of their ears. . 



The fize of the animal is fomewhat larger than ours ; but 

 their ears are often a foot long, and broad in proportion ; 

 they are chiefly kept for their milk, of which they yield no hx- 

 confiderable quantity ; and it is fweet, and well tailed j NaU 

 hiji. ofAleppQy by Alexander Rufel. M. D. 



