NATURAL HISTORY. 



143 



its pursuer over dangerous heights and fearful chasms, it will 

 frequently turn on him, and unless he can shoot it before it 

 reaches him, will hurl him over the precipice. It is very 

 wary, and, like many other animals, posts a sentry to keep 

 watch : when he sees a suspicious object, he gives notice by a 

 kind of whistle, when the whole of the herd instantly dash off' 

 to the highest point they can find. The height of the Ibex 

 is two feet six inches ; the length of its horns often three feet. 



Hircus (Lat. a He-goat), the Goat. 



The common GOAT is not in much request in England, but 

 in some other countries, as Syria and Switzerland, herds of 

 goats are kept for the sake of their milk, and" in fact almost 

 entirely take the place of the cow. The most celebrated 

 variety of this animal is the Cashmir goat, which furnishes 

 the beautifully fine wool from which the costly Cashmir 

 shawls are made. The shawls bear a high value even in their 

 own country, but in Europe the price is much increased by the 

 various taxes which are paid in every stage of the manufacture 

 the average number of taxes paid on each shawl being about 

 thirty, several of which are limited only by the pleasure of the 

 collector. 



