THE GOATS.
These animals differ among themselves to a wonderful extent in their shape, their color and even in the texture of their fleece. The Goats of Angora in Cappadocia are provided with a soft and silky clothing. Those of Thibet have become celebrated for the delicacy of a kind of wool which grows among their hair, from which Cashmere shawls are manufactured. In Upper Egypt is a race remarkable for the roughness of their coat, while the Goats of Guinea and of Judea are distinguished by the smallness of their dimensions, and by their horns, which are pointed backwards. But whatever may be the cause of these peculiarities, the whole race seems to retain the characters derivable from a mountain origin; they are robust, capricious, and vagabond; they prefer dry hills and wild localities, where they can procure only the coarsest herbage, or browse upon the shrubs and bushes. They are likewise very injurious in forests, where they destroy the young trees by devouring the bark. Their flesh is strong and rank, so that they are seldom eaten; nevertheless, their milk is an article of diet, and the Kid, while young, is tender and nutritious.