62 THE IBEX. 



towards illustrating the knowledge of natural 

 history possessed by the ancient Greeks. 



A residence of some duration is required before 

 a naturalist can make acquaintance with the 

 larger land-animals of any country ; and the more 

 fixed his habitation the greater will be his 

 success in observing them. Our nomadic life 

 was unfavourable to such observations, nor was 

 the season of the year in which we visited Lycia, 

 the best for that purpose. Among the larger 

 quadrupeds, and the most remarkable, that at- 

 tracted our notice, was the caik or caigi, the 

 name by which the ibex * is known in Lycia. 

 It is specifically identical with the ibex of Swit- 

 zerland. The " wild goat " of Crete, whose 

 horns are figured in Mr. Pashley's work, is the 

 same species. A specimen was procured alive, 

 and kept tame as a pet on board the Beacon. In 

 Lycia the ibex frequents the summits of the 

 highest mountains in summer. In the month of 

 October 1841, during Mr. Hoskyn's tour, a herd 

 of them was met with on the summits of the 

 Massicytus, travelling in single file over the steep 

 rocks, at an elevation of nine thousand feet. In 

 the winter they are said to descend from the 

 * Capra Ibex. 



