THE GOAT. 195 



hunter, having killed the dam and captured the 

 little ones, carried the latter home, very likely 

 as playthings for his children. If the little 

 orphans were pretty and playful, they would be 

 cherished by the "squaws" and "papooses," and 

 would become, as it were, members of the family 

 circle. Now young kids have very engaging 

 manners, and are to this day universal favourites 

 with children ; hence they would be very likely 

 to be kept and brought up in some such manner. 

 Goats, again, require very little looking after ; 

 they can get a living almost anywhere, and will 

 remain in the vicinity of their owners without 

 much herding. Hence they would suit the 

 indolent disposition of savages far better than 

 would animals which require constant attention. 

 Many of the African races seem to show little 

 or no faculty for keeping domestic animals, but 

 one finds that most of them have a few tame 

 goats about their villag-es. 



Another reason why it seems likely that goats 

 have been domesticated for a very long time 

 is the great number of varieties now found in 

 captivity which are undoubtedly the result of 

 artificial selection. Some of these have certain 

 remarkable peculiarities which could only be pro- 



