THE GOAT. 189 



intelligence, and the early developed climbing 

 powers of young kids seem to indicate that they 

 were soon released from their nurseries in the 

 clefts of the rocks, and were allowed to accom- 

 pany their dams. Certainly when compared with 

 a young calf a kid is a prodigy of intellect. 



Almost every movement of a kid proves the 

 mountain origin of its race. Its powers of climb- 

 ing are extraordinary, and must be witnessed to 

 be believed. I have seen them clamber on 

 slippery roofs and up the almost perpendicular 

 face of a quarry to places which seemed impos- 

 sible to reach without the aid of a ladder or the 

 clinging power of claws or fingers. I remember 

 once seeing a pair of kids running races up and 

 down the shafts of a disused farm roller which 

 were tilted up at an angle of about 45°. On the 

 extreme ends of the shafts, high in the air, the 

 little creatures would stand, one on each, and 

 turn about as on a pivot, with the tips of all four 

 hooflets close enough tosrether to rest on a 

 penny-piece. 



Such feats on the part of the goat are far more 

 artistic exhibitions of skill in climbing than any- 

 thing that can be done by a cat or a monkey ; 

 for he does everything by calculating his distance 



