Wild Goat of Afghanistan. 527 



claration** of Him, who created all things, and " saw that 

 they were good" 



The female having far shorter and smaller horns, does in 

 no wise invalidate this opinion, since it is a well-known fact, 

 that in the Caprine tribe the female is far quieter, and less 

 restlessly inclined than the males, and therefore much less, or 

 perhaps not at all, subject to the same accidents. So well 

 known is this fact to the mountaineers of the Himalyan dis- 

 tricts, that the traders who carry the produce of the lower 

 tracts to the regions of Tartary, invariably transport their 

 merchandise laden on the backs of females and emasculated 

 goats and sheep ; a few males only being preserved and left 

 at home to perpetuate the breed. The same mode is 

 adopted by the mountain shepherds of Afghanistan, to pre- 

 vent the animals wandering from the flock, when at pasture 

 on the heights. 



The eye of this species is of a fine light hazel, or bright 

 brown. There is no lachrymal sinus, and the males have 

 the strong odour, which is characteristic of the tribe, and 

 which Mr. Hodgson has so happily seized upon as a generic 

 distinction between the goats and sheep. 



These animals inhabit the highest mountains of Afghanis- 

 tan, keeping as near as possible to the snows, and they ap- 

 pear to be abundant in certain localities, both in the Huz- 

 zarreh and western ranges. In the summer it is difficult to 

 procure them, owing to the inaccessible nature of their rocky 

 retreats, but in the autumn and winter, when the inclemen- 

 cy of the season forces them to descend from their exalted 

 stations to the lower range, they are shot, or even occasion- 

 ally run down with greyhounds. 



Like the Wild Sheep of the American Rocky Mountains, 

 they are fond of entering caves in search of saline efflores- 

 cences, and are thus occasionally captured alive ; to do this 

 however is a task of much danger, as the animal, if brought 

 to bay, becomes furious, and charges with such impetuous 



