6 
THE GOAT. 
HISTORY. 
mammae of tlie females hang almost to the ground. These Goats are more docile than any other, and, yielding a large quantity 
of milk, are greatly valued in the arid countries over which they are spread. In Nepaul a beautiful Goat is domesticated, which 
so much resembles the Syrian that both are probably derived from a common stock. It is of a slender form, with a convex face, 
without horns, and with long pendulous ears, which are generally white, or of a paler tint than the rest of the body. 
Africa abounds in Goats as well as Sheep, resembling those of Greece and other countries of the Mediterranean. Along the 
Barbary coast, the Goats are very fine. From this country the Homans derived their choicest breed. But beyond the mountains 
which bound the great basin of the Mediterranean on the south, Nature presents a new aspect, and beyond the great Sahara, 
every living thing, up to man himself, seems changed. But of the Goats of the interior we learn little from the casual notices of 
travellers. We are told only, that Goats are very numerous, and often so nearly resemble Sheep that they might be mis¬ 
taken for them. On the coasts of Guinea, however, the cruel visits of Europeans have made us acquainted with a race of 
Goats, which differ from any other known to us. They are of diminutive size, very pretty, with short pricked up ears, and 
generally with slender falcated horns. They have been carried by the slave-ships to the settlements of the Spaniards and Portu¬ 
guese in America, and to the West India Islands, and they have multiplied and remained distinct from the other races. 
Of the Goats of Europe, the most numerous and beautiful are those which inhabit the countries of the Mediterranean. 
They have generally horns, long flowing beards, and hair of divers colours, from milk-white to black. Those of Greece and the 
Islands of the Archipelago have been in esteem from early times. Their writers refer to the Achaian, as a breed greatly valued. 
The Homans cultivated the Goats largely, and their rustic writers give us numerous details regarding the modes of rearing and 
treating them. In modern Italy, Goats are very numerous, especially in Calabria and the mountainous countries. They abound 
likewise in Spain and Portugal, where they are cultivated chiefly for their milk, and the flesh of the kids. The Goats there are 
to be seen driven into the cities in the morning, and milked at the doors of the houses. In France, there are considerable num¬ 
bers of Goats, but of no peculiar beauty of race. A strong prejudice exists against them on account of the injury they cause to 
the vines and forests. The district in France most celebrated for Goats is the Canton of Mont d’Or, where, in a space not 
exceeding two leagues at its largest diameter, upwards of eleven thousand are kept, chiefly for the supply of the city of Lyons 
with cheese. In the northern counties of Europe, Goats are in considerable numbers; but for the most part they are inferior in 
size and beauty to those of the countries of the Mediterranean. In the heathy mountains they become of small size, and are 
covered with a shaggy coat of long brown hair. Sometimes they have escaped from servitude, and become as wild and difficult 
to be approached as the Deer of the same countries. 
The Goat, though obeying the law to which all the domesticated animals are subject, and presenting itself under a 
great variety of aspect, retains many of the characters and habits which distinguish it in the state of liberty. It is lively, 
ardent, robust, capable of enduring the intensest cold, and seemingly little incommoded by the extremes of heat. It is wild, 
irregular, and erratic in its movements. It is bold in its own defence, putting itself in an attitude of defiance when pro¬ 
voked by animals, however larger than itself. Its horns turning outward at the points, it rises when it fights upon its hinder 
legs, and throwing the weight of its body sideways, endeavours to maim its enemy by oblique strokes of the horns. The 
Ham, on the other hand, whose horns are turned inward, cannot use this method of attack, but rushes blindly upon his enemv, 
endeavouring to stun him by the violence of the shock; while the Bull must lower his head to the very ground, in order that he 
may receive his adversary on the points of his horns. A dog that will despise a ram, and assail a bull, is frequently cowed by 
the peculiar mode of attack and bold demeanour of the Goat. The Goat, like the wild species, is capable of nicely balancing its body, 
and its hoofs being widely cleft, moveable, and sharp at the exterior edges, it possesses the faculty of fixing itself on the shelv¬ 
ing edges of rocks, and of leaping from crag to crag. The Arabs teach a curious feat to their Goats, which manifests their won¬ 
derful power of balancing the body. A cylinder of wood is placed on the ground, on the top of which the Goat places all his 
feet; another is then added, on which the animal likewise mounts; and then another, and another, until he stands at the summit 
of the column. When two Goats meet on a narrow ledge of rock, or the top of a high wall, the one crouches down, that the 
other may leap over his body. The Goat, obeying his pristine instincts, delights in high places, climbs to the tops of walls and 
houses, and leaps over the barriers intended to confine him. When kept in herds, individuals continually stray from the flock, 
and station themselves on the heights. In feeding, the flock gradually ascends to the higher grounds, preferring the shrubs and 
aromatic plants of the mountains to the richer herbage of the plains. Goats will eat of many bitter and narcotic plants which 
other animals reject, nay, of some which are deemed poisonous, as the hemlock and fox-glove. They gnaw the bark, and crop 
the tender shoots, of shrubs and trees; and hence they are the pest of the cultivated country, destroying the hedges, the woods, 
and orchards of the planter. In the countries of the vine, they are regarded as enemies whose trespasses must be curbed by the 
severest means. When mingled in the flock with Sheep, the Goats invariably assume the guidance of their more timorous com- 
