GOATS. 
241 
observer, that one of these goats, which had missed its footing, saved itself by 
alighting on its horns. Writing of this species in Persia, St. John observes that “in 
spite of the constant persecution to which it is subjected, it exists in vast numbers. 
On the Kuh-i-barf, a not very lofty or extensive hill, constantly shot over, near 
Shiraz, I once counted over a hundred in a herd, which had been driven together 
by two days’ consecutive fusilade from half a dozen shikaris. . . . The ibex,” as Sir 
Oliver calls the animal, “ is marvellousty shy and wary. In my earlier residence in 
Persia I spent many a weary day after them, but never managed to bag a buck. 
Even native sportsmen, though admirable shots, and thoroughly familiar with every 
nook and cranny of the hills, rarely get one by fair stalking; most of those killed 
being obtained by building a wall of loose stones near water, and shooting the goats 
when drinking. The males drink in the morning and evening only, but the 
females, in hot weather, at least, drink also at midday. While putting up the 
telegraph about sixty miles north of Shiraz, in 1864, I came suddenly upon a herd 
of twenty or more does and kids, drinking by the roadside, a couple of hundred 
yards from the foot of the hills. Except when alarmed, bucks and does seem to 
keep apart.” 
In Sind and Baluchistan these goats inhabit barren rocky hills, but in parts of 
Asia Minor they are found on forest-clad uplands. In such localities, according to 
Mr. E. N. Buxton, they may often be found within hearing of the drovers on the 
roads, or even of the railways; but this confidence is accompanied by exceeding 
watchfulness. The number in a flock in these districts is generally from four to ten, 
and at the time of Mr. Buxton’s observations bucks and does were found together. 
Sentinels are almost always posted to warn the flock, these being relieved at short 
intervals; and it appears that this sentry-duty is undertaken according to seniority, 
the youngest animals commencing first, and the oldest buck taking his turn last. 
In Asia Minor pasang are hunted both by driving and by stalking; but they are so 
cunning that the former method is not generally very successful. The Cabulis 
hunt them on the lower grounds of Afghanistan with greyhounds. 
In the Caucasus the kids are born in May, but Mr. Blanford believes that in 
Sind they are produced somewhat earlier. There may be either one or two, and, 
it is said, occasionally three at a birth. 
The bezoar-stone, so highly esteemed in Persia as an antidote to poison and a 
remedy for several diseases, is a concretion found in the stomach of the pasang, 
from whence it derives its old European name of Pazen, or Pasen. 
In the island of Giura, near Euboea, there occurs a wild goat 
which has been regarded as a distinct species, under the name of 
C. dorcas. There is, however, little doubt but that it is the descendant of tamed 
goats which have run wild, or of such animals crossed with the pasang. 
Domestic Goats ( Capra hircus). 
It has been already mentioned that the various breeds of domesticated goat 
have been mainly if not exclusively derived from the Persian wild goat, and they 
may accordingly be most conveniently considered in this place. In saying that 
domestic goats are mainly derived from that species, it should, however, be men- 
vol. 11.—16 
