GOATS. 



213 



or Great Comoro, and they are often worth from 

 $8 to §9. As a rule, Zanzibar mutton, like that 

 of the Brazil, is much inferior to beef, and pre- 

 sents a great contrast with the celebrated ' gram- 

 feds ' of India. 



Caponized goats in these regions are larger, 

 fatter, and cent, per cent, dearer than sheep : I 

 have heard of §15 to 816 being paid for the 

 Comoro animal. » The meat is preferred to 

 mutton: my objection to it is the want of dis- 

 tinct flavour. Yet goats are always offered as 

 presents in the interior. Some of the bucks 

 brought from the Continent have a peculiarly 

 ungoatly appearance, with black points and dark 

 crosses upon their tan - coloured backs and 

 shoulders, and with long flowing jetty manes 

 like the breast hair of a Bukhti or Bactrian 

 camel. They must be kept out of the sun, and 

 fed on vetches as well as grass, otherwise they 

 will die during the rains from an incurable 

 nasal running. 



A stunted Pariah dog is found upon the 

 Island and the Continent : here, as in Western 

 Africa, it is held, when fattened, to be a dish fit 

 for a (Negro) king. Some missionaries have 

 tasted puppy stew — perhaps puppy pie — and 

 have pronounced the flesh to be sweet, glutinous, 



