GOATS. 258 
sportsman nor lover of nature can fail to be struck with admiration at his noble 
bearing. He is powerfully and compactly made, and, in spite of his weight, 
he has perhaps no equal in traversing difficult and dangerous ground. I know of 
no animal whose pursuit habitually entails so much difficult climbing, and to be 
successful one must occasionally venture into places where no less inducement 
would tempt one to run the risk. Old male markhor are extremely difficult to 
find, especially where they have been frequently disturbed. Unlike the ibex, which 
keeps to the rugged crags and steep 
ravines above the limits of the forest, 
the markhor delights in rocky forests, 
and although it occasionally comes out 
into the open glades, it seeks conceal- 
ment as much as possible.” 
This description apples to the 
markhor of Kashmir and Astor; but 
in Afghanistan the animal inhabits bare 
and rugged hillsides, owing to the 
general absence of forest in that country. 
The ground haunted by markhor in 
many parts of Kashmir territory is of 
the most loose and rotten description, 
which renders stalking decidedly danger- 
ous. Not unfrequently markhor are 
found with one or both horns much 
broken, but whether this is due _ to 
accidents from landslips and avalanches, 
or to combats between one another, does 
not appear to be ascertained. As 
already mentioned, the Suliman markhor 
is frequently found at a comparatively 
low elevation ; and it appears that in all 
localities this goat does not bear extreme 
cold so bravely as its cousin the ibex, 

and that in winter it always descends HEAD OF MARKHOR; PIR PANJAL VARIETY. 
to the more protected valleys. This 
sensitiveness to cold is doubtless correctly attributed by Colonel Biddulph to the 
absence of under-fur, or pashm, in the markhor. 
The agile habits of this goat were well exhibited by a buck formerly kept in 
the London Zoological Gardens, which, in spite of the weight of a heavy chain, was 
found nearly every morning mounted on the top of the high wall surrounding 
his enclosure. In captivity markhor breed freely, the number of young at a 
birth being either one or two. It does not appear to be ascertained when the 
young are born in the Pir Panjal range, but in the districts of Astor and Gilgit 
they are produced in May and June. Markhor have frequently interbred with 
domestic goats; and it was formerly considered that the spiral-horned varieties of 
the latter traced their parentage directly to this species. In domestic goats, as 
