The great peaks are sorcerers whose spells no man may resist, and the feeling that every manly quality in you has been tried to the utmost, and has borne the strain, is worth more than all the cruel toil endured.
In conclusion let me say that there is so much confusion as to the correct classification of the Caucasian goats, that before venturing to publish this contribution I went for information to the British Museum, considering that the nomenclature used by that Museum should be the standard for British sportsmen. At the Museum I learned that on this particular subject even our savants are in some doubt, whilst in Russia the leading naturalists of St. Petersburg and Moscow disagree. However, Mr. Thomas courteously supplied me with the following definitions, which may be sufficient for present purposes.
Capra cylindricornis, or pallasi, is the name properly applied to the Caucasian burrhel, a beast with smooth cylindrical horns; C. caucasica is applied to the Caucasian ibex, a beast with horns recurved and modulated as in the true ibex; while C. ægagrus is an animal with horns of the common goat type, with sharp front edges irregularly modulated. The best horn measurements of these three beasts known to me are:
| Length | Circumference | |
|---|---|---|
| C. cylindricornis{ | 38¼ inches 36 ” | 12½ inches 15 ” |
| C. caucasica | 40⅛” | 12⅝” |
| C. ægagrus | 48¼” | 8⅜” |
These measurements have been kindly supplied by Mr. Rowland Ward from his notebook.
Dead aurochs