digestible than that of cows, and in many mountain-regions it is valued for its milk products, cheese and butter. The skins of the goat and kid are valued in the manufacture of fine shoes and gloves.

2. The Rocky Mountain goat resembles the merino sheep in figure and size. Its horns are small, conical, smooth, nearly erect,

Its

and jet-black. outer hair is long, straight, white, and soft, and hangs down all over the body. It inhabits the highest and most inaccessible parts of the Rocky Mountains, and is very difficult to procure. The cashmere goat, whose home is in Thibet, has long,

straight, silky hair, large pendent ears, and slender legs. Its fleece has become famous by the rare texture of the fabrics into which it enters. The cashmere shawls have great value, and the kingdom of Cashmere, in India, has built up an extensive industry in the manufacture of these articles. It operates sixteen thousand looms, and turns out thirty thousand shawls annually. It requires a year to make a single shawl of a rich pattern.

3. The angora goat, which takes its name from the city of Angora, in Asia Minor, nearly resembles the cashmere species. Its hair is not straight, but hangs in long, flowing tresses of spiral ringlets. Its fleece is used in the manufacture of beautiful light fabrics called zephyr-cloths.

The angora has been successfully raised in France, and in the Southern States of this country. It is more tractable and amiable in disposition than our common goat.

4. The ibex inhabits the mountainous parts of Europe, and combines the general character of the goat with the fleetness of the antelope. Colonel Markham says of it: "All readers of natural history are familiar

The Common Ibex.

with the wonderful climbing and leaping powers of the ibex; and although they can not (as has been described in print) make a spring and hang by the horns until they gain a footing, yet in reality, for such heavy animals, they get over the most inaccessible - looking places in an almost miraculous manner. Nothing seems to

stop them, nor to impede their progress in the least.

5. "To see a flock, after being fired at, take a distant line across country, which they often do, over all sorts of seemingly impassable ground, now along the naked surface of an almost perpendicular rock, then across a formidable land-slip, or an inclined plane of loose stones or sand, which the slightest touch sets in motion, both above and below, diving into chasms to which there seems no possible outlet, but instantly reappearing on the opposite side, never deviating in the slightest from their course, and at

the same time getting over the ground at the rate of something like fifteen miles an hour, is a sight not easily to be forgotten.

6. "The goat possesses great natural affection for its young, and uses both courage and artifice in their defense. The fox, which is the particular enemy of the whole of the sheep kind, does not fail to attempt to seize the young of the goat. When the mother discovers the fox approaching, while the insidious foe is yet at a distance, she conceals her offspring in some thicket, and interposes herself between it and the wily marauder. The kid, when conveyed to this retreat, invariably lies close and still, as if, according to the fable, she had received the verbal instructions of the dam. But the fox generally discovers the retreat of the kid, and a contest ensues between the rapacious and the affectionate animal. The manner of these contests is illustrated by the following anecdote, which furnishes an affecting instance at once of the cour age and of the love of its offspring possessed by the goat:

7. "A person having missed one of his goats when his flock was taken home at night, and being afraid the wanderer would get among the young trees of his nursery, two boys, wrapped in their plaids, were ordered to watch all night. The morning had faintly dawned, when they sprang up the hill in search of her. They could but just discern her on a pointed rock afar off; and, hastening to the spot, perceived her standing with a newly-dropped kid which she was defending against a fox. The enemy turned round and round to lay hold of his prey, but the goat presented her horns in every direction.

8. "The youngest boy was dispatched to get assistance to attack the fox, and the eldest, hallooing and throwing up stones, sought to intimidate him as he climbed to rescue his charge. The fox seemed well aware that the

child could not execute his threats; he looked at him one instant, and then renewed the assault, till, quite impatient, he made a sudden effort to seize the kid. The whole three disappeared, and were found at the bottom of the precipice. The goat's horns were darted into the back of the fox; the kid lay stretched beside her. It is supposed the fox had fixed his teeth in the kid, for its neck was lacerated; but, when the faithful mother inflicted a deathwound upon her mortal enemy, he probably staggered, and brought his victim with him over the rock."

9. "A gentleman who had taken an active share in the rebellion of 1715, after the battle of Preston escaped to the West Highlands, to the residence of a female relative who afforded him an asylum. As it was soon judged unsafe for him to remain in the house of his friend, he was conducted to a cavern in a sequestered situation, and furnished with a supply of food. The approach to this lonely abode consisted of a small aperture, through which he crept and dragged his provisions along with him. A little way from the mouth the roof became elevated, but, on advancing, an obstacle obstructed his progress; unwilling to strike at a venture with his dirk, he stooped down and discovered a goat and her kid lying on the ground.

10. "He soon perceived that the animal was in great pain, and, feeling her body and limbs, ascertained that one of her legs was fractured. He bound it up with his garter, and offered her some of his bread; but she refused to eat, and stretched out her tongue, as if intimating that her mouth was parched with thirst. He gave her water, which she drank greedily, and then she ate the bread. At midnight he ventured from the cave, pulled a quantity of grass and the tender branches of trees, and carried them to the poor sufferer, who received them with demonstrations of gratitude. The only thing which this fugi

tive had to arrest his attention in his drear abode was administering comfort to the goat; and he was indeed thankful to have any living creature beside him.

11. "The goat quickly recovered, and became tenderly attached to him. It happened that the servant who was intrusted with the secret of his retreat fell sick, when it became necessary to send another with provisions. The goat, on this occasion, happening to be lying near the mouth of the cavern, opposed his entrance with all her might, butting him furiously; the fugitive, hearing a disturbance, went forward, and, receiving the watchword from his new attendant, interposed, and the faithful goat permitted him to pass. So resolute was the animal on this occasion that the gentleman was convinced she would die in his defense."

CHAPTER XXXIII.

AGILE DWELLERS OF MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN.

"I'll chase the antelope over the plain,
The tiger's cub I will bind with a chain,
And the wild gazelle with its silvery feet
I will give thee for a playmate sweet."

1. THE antelope is one of those creatures that remind us of the essential unity of different animal tribes. It bears strong resemblances to the ox, the goat, and the deer. Like the ox and the goat, it has hollow, and, in most cases, permanent horns. Its ability to spring and climb is similar to though far surpassing that of the goat; while in size, general outline of form, and habits of life, it resembles the deer. Its horns are more like those of the goat, curving backward, and in some varieties again