The photograph shows the corrugated horns of the male.
The ibex was long one of the chief objects of the Alpine hunter. The Emperor Maximilian had a preserve of them in the Tyrol mountains near the Aachen Sea; these he shot with a cross-bow when they were driven down the mountains. Sometimes they were forced across the lake. A picture in his private hunting-book shows the Emperor assisting to catch one in a net from a boat. He notes that he once shot an ibex at a distance of 200 yards with a cross-bow, after one of his companions had missed it with a gun, or "fire-tube." When away on an expedition in Holland, he wrote a letter to the wife of one of the most noted ibex-poachers on his domain, promising her a silk dress if she could induce her husband to let the animals alone. In the Himalaya the chief foes of the ibex are the snow-leopard and wild dog.
The Markhor.
The very fine Himalayan goat of this name differs from all other wild species. The horns are spiral, like those of the kudu antelope and Wallachian sheep. It may well be called the king of the wild goats. A buck stands as much as 41 inches at the shoulder, and the maximum measurement of the horns is 63 inches, or over 5 feet! It has a long beard and mane, and stands very upright on its feet. Besides the Himalaya, it haunts the mountains on the Afghan frontier. The markhor keep along the line between the forest and snow, some of the most difficult ground in the hills. The horns are a much-prized trophy.
The Tahr.
The Tahr of the Himalaya is a very different-looking animal to the true goats, from which, among other characters, it is distinguished by the form and small size of the horns. The horns, which are black, spring in a high backward arch, but the creature has no beard. A buck stands sometimes as much as 38 inches high at the shoulder. It has a long, rough coat, mainly dark stone-colour in tint.
By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.
NUBIAN GOAT.
These goats come from Nubia and Upper Egypt. They are generally hornless and short-haired; the colour varies, being sometimes black, and sometimes tan and spotted.