TheTibetan Argaliis a little smaller in size, and has slightly smaller horns. The rams have also a large white ruff on the throat. These sheep descend in winter to the lower valleys of the Tibetan plateau, returning to the higher ground in spring. The lambs are born in May or June.
BARBARY SHEEP.Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.BARBARY SHEEP.These fine wild sheep are found in the Atlas and Aures Mountains of North Africa.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.BARBARY SHEEP.These fine wild sheep are found in the Atlas and Aures Mountains of North Africa.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.
BARBARY SHEEP.
These fine wild sheep are found in the Atlas and Aures Mountains of North Africa.
BARBARY SHEEP.Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.BARBARY SHEEP.This shows a fine ram, with a mane reaching almost to its hoofs.
Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.BARBARY SHEEP.This shows a fine ram, with a mane reaching almost to its hoofs.
Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.
BARBARY SHEEP.
This shows a fine ram, with a mane reaching almost to its hoofs.
Littledale's Sheepis a smaller animal, found on the Sair Mountains in the Great Altai, on the north-western border of Mongolia. It is darker in colour than the argali or Marco Polo's sheep, and has dark under-parts.
Writing of the argali of Southern Siberia, the naturalist Brehm says that when the Tartars want mutton an argali hunt is organised. The Tartar hunters advance on their horses at intervals of 200 or 300 yards, and when the sheep are started generally manage, by riding, shooting, coursing them with dogs, and shouting, to bewilder, shoot, or capture several.
On the high plateau of the Pamirs and the adjacent districtsMarco Polo's Sheepis found. The rams are only slightly less in size than the Siberian argali; the hair is longer than in that species, and the horns are thinner and more slender and extend farther in an outward direction. An adult ram may weigh 22 stone. The first description of this sheep was given by the old traveller whose name it now bears. He said that on the Pamir plateau wild animals are met with in large numbers, particularly a sheep of great size, having horns three, four, and even six palms in length. The shepherds (? hunters) form ladles and vessels from them. In the Pamirs, Marco Polo's sheep is seldom found at less than 11,000 or 12,000 feet above the sea. In the Thian-shan Mountains it is said to descend to 2,000 or 3,000 feet. They prefer the hilly, grassy plains, and only seek the hills for safety. On the Pamirs they are said to be very numerous in places, one hunter stating that he saw in one day not less than 600 head.
The Bighorn Sheep of America and Kamchatka.
North America has its parallel to the argalis in the famousBighorn. It is now very rare even in NorthernCanada, and becoming scarce in the United States, though a few are found here and there at various points on the Rocky Mountains as far south as Mexico. In habits it is much the same as other wild sheep—that is to say, it haunts the rock-hills and "bad lands" near the mountains, feeding on the scanty herbage of the high ground, and not descending unless driven down by snow.
BURHAL WILD SHEEP.Photo by J. W. McLellan][Highbury.BURHAL WILD SHEEP.Sometimes called the Blue Sheep. They have a wide range both on the Himalaya and north of those mountains.
Photo by J. W. McLellan][Highbury.BURHAL WILD SHEEP.Sometimes called the Blue Sheep. They have a wide range both on the Himalaya and north of those mountains.
Photo by J. W. McLellan][Highbury.
BURHAL WILD SHEEP.
Sometimes called the Blue Sheep. They have a wide range both on the Himalaya and north of those mountains.
The bighorn sheep are very partial to salt. Mr. Turner Turner, who hunted them in East Kooteney, says: "Wild sheep make periodical excursions to the mountain-tops to gorge themselves with salty clay. They may remain from an hour to two days, and when killed their stomachs will be found full of nothing but the clay formed from denuded limestone, which they lick and gnaw until sometimes deep tunnels are formed in the cliffs, large enough to hide six or seven sheep. The hunter, standing over one of these warrens, may bolt them within two yards of him. In the dead of winter sheep often come to the woods to feed on fir-trees. At such times they may be seen mixed with black-and-white-tailed deer, low on a river-bank. I have known them come within forty yards of an inhabited hut."
While on the subject of the fondness of sheep and deer for salt, we may mention an anecdote told by Mr. H. C. Nelson inCountry Life. He was sleeping with two other friends in a hut in the mountains where some miners had lived for a time. These men, when they washed up their pots and pans, threw the slops away at a certain place close by the hut. As all water used for cooking meat has salt put into it, a little salt remained on the surface. This the wild deer had found out, and were in the habit of coming to lick it at night. Mr. Nelson had a shot at one some twenty yards from the hut.
The bighorn sheep stands from 3 feet 2 inches to 3 feet 6 inches at the shoulder. The horns are of the general type of the argalis, but smoother. Another bighorn is found in Kamchatka. There is also a beautiful white race of bighorn inhabiting Alaska. The typical Rocky Mountain race is browner than the Asiatic argalis, and in winter is dark even beneath the front parts of the body. It is not found on the high peaks of the great ranges, but on difficult though lower ground on the minor hills.
The Oorial.
The vast range of the Himalaya affords feeding-ground to other species of wild sheep and wild goat, so different in the shape of the horns that the variations of the ovine race under domestication need not be matter for wonder when so much variety is seen in nature.
TheOorial, orSha, is found in North-west India, on the Trans-Indus Mountains, and in Ladak, Northern Tibet, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Turkestan, and Southern Persia. The horns make a half-curve backwards, and are flattened. The angle with the horizontal line across the ears is about half a right angle. The coat is of a reddish-brown colour, with white on the belly, legs, and throat. This species has a very wide geographical distribution, and is the only wild sheep found in India proper.
FEMALE KUDU.Photo by The Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey.FEMALE KUDU.The Kudu is one of the handsomest of the African Antelopes, the corkscrew-like horns of the bucks forming some of the most striking of all sporting trophies.
Photo by The Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey.FEMALE KUDU.The Kudu is one of the handsomest of the African Antelopes, the corkscrew-like horns of the bucks forming some of the most striking of all sporting trophies.
Photo by The Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey.
FEMALE KUDU.
The Kudu is one of the handsomest of the African Antelopes, the corkscrew-like horns of the bucks forming some of the most striking of all sporting trophies.
PUNJAB SHEEP.Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.PUNJAB SHEEP.This is an example of one of the breeds which carry no wool whatever.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.PUNJAB SHEEP.This is an example of one of the breeds which carry no wool whatever.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.
PUNJAB SHEEP.
This is an example of one of the breeds which carry no wool whatever.
FAT-TAILED SHEEP.Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.][North Finchley.FAT-TAILED SHEEP.The fat tail of this sheep was considered by Charles Darwin as due to degeneration.
Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.][North Finchley.FAT-TAILED SHEEP.The fat tail of this sheep was considered by Charles Darwin as due to degeneration.
Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.][North Finchley.
FAT-TAILED SHEEP.
The fat tail of this sheep was considered by Charles Darwin as due to degeneration.
The Barbary Sheep, Aoudad, or Arui.
This is a large wild sheep of the North African highlands. The old rams have a very fine appearance, with a long flowing beard or mane, and large horns. These wild sheep, though somewhat goat-like in appearance, are typical of their race in general habits. They live in the Atlas Range, and in the splendid heights of the Aures Mountains, which lie at the back of Algeria and fringe the great Sahara Desert. In the isolated and burning rocks which jut up in the desert itself into single mountains they are also found, living on ground which seems absolutely destitute of water, grass, or vegetation. They live singly or in small families; but the rams keep mainly alone. Sometimes they lie in shallow caves during the heat of the day. These caves smell like a sheep-fold. More generally the sheep repose on some shelf of rock, where they exactly match the colour of the stone, and are invisible. The ground is among the most difficult in which any hunting is attempted, except perhaps in chamois-stalking; but the pursuit seems to fascinate sportsmen. Mr. A. E. Pease recently gave some charming descriptions of the silence, the rugged rocks, and the astonishing views over the great orange Sahara Desert seen from the tops of these haunts of the Barbary sheep—mountains on the summits of which his Arab guides would prostrate themselves in evening prayer as the sun sank over the desert, and then, rising, once more resume the chase. The young lambs of the Barbary sheep are charming little creatures, more like reddish kids. They can follow the mother over the steepest ground at a great pace. When caught, as they sometimes are by the Arabs, they soon become tame. Thetail is longer than in other wild sheep, and in the males a large mane covers the chest.
FOUR-HORNED SHEEP.Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.FOUR-HORNED SHEEP.There are several breeds of these sheep, some from China, some from Iceland, and others from South Africa.
Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.FOUR-HORNED SHEEP.There are several breeds of these sheep, some from China, some from Iceland, and others from South Africa.
Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.
FOUR-HORNED SHEEP.
There are several breeds of these sheep, some from China, some from Iceland, and others from South Africa.
The Burhal, or Blue Sheep.
This species possibly indicates the transition-point from the sheep to the goats. It was pointed out by Mr. Brian Hodgson that it had certain features more like the goats than the sheep, and later other writers laid stress on structural differences of the same kind, both in skull and horns. It has not the disagreeable odour of the goats; but the black markings which separate the white of the belly from the brown of the flanks, and run down the front of the legs, are like those seen on some goats. The horns rise in a curve outwards and downwards. The largest are only some 30 inches long.
Burhal are perhaps the commonest of all Asiatic wild sheep. They inhabit the whole length of the higher Himalayan Range, and are found over and round the Central Asian plateau as far north as Yarkand. The horns make two half-moons at right angles to the skull. Unlike some of the other wild sheep, burhal often climb the very highest ground of all. Much of the best burhal ground is above 17,000 feet high, and, as Mr. Whitbread remarks, this alone makes the chase of such an animal difficult. As in the moufflon, the mutton is excellent. There is no difficulty whatever in taming these wild Himalayan sheep; those in the Zoological Gardens are practically domesticated.
Domesticated Sheep.
Under domestication sheep exhibit a wide variety of coat, shape, and size, very striking to the eye, and very important in regard to the produce of wool or mutton. The introduction of a particular breed, with long wool or short wool as the case may be, has often saved or altered for a time the economic condition of a colony or province. It was the introduction of the sheep which gave Australia first rank among the rich colonies of the world; and the discovery that the Cheviot breed would thrive on the Scotch hills made millions of acres remunerative which might otherwise have been very unproductive. But the only important change in the structure of the sheep in domestication is the lengthening of the tail. The carcase may be fat mutton or thin mutton, the wool long or short, fine or coarse; but the sheep itself remains true to type, and of much the same docile habits, under all the changes of the breeders.
SOUTH DOWN SHEEP.Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.SOUTH DOWN SHEEP.The finest breed of down-sheep.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.SOUTH DOWN SHEEP.The finest breed of down-sheep.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.
SOUTH DOWN SHEEP.
The finest breed of down-sheep.
We may first say a word or two as to foreign breeds of sheep, especially those of the East. Some of these resemble the wild breeds in having smooth coats and almost no wool. TheSomali Sheep, for instance, yield no wool useful for felting or spinning. They have drooping ears and black heads. Some of the finest natural wool is developed by a white sheep in Tibet. The fur is usually sold as Tibetan lamb. The wool is exactly like white floss-silk. When cured by the Chinese, the leather is like white kid, with this flossy wool attached.
MERINO RAMS.Photo by W. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.MERINO RAMS.The best wool-producing sheep. Imported from Spain to Australia.
Photo by W. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.MERINO RAMS.The best wool-producing sheep. Imported from Spain to Australia.
Photo by W. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.
MERINO RAMS.
The best wool-producing sheep. Imported from Spain to Australia.
In India and Persia the sheep is sometimes used as a beast of burden. Mr. Lockwood Kipling, in his "Beast and Man in India," says: "Borax, asafœtida, and other commodities are brought into India on the backs of sheep in bags. The flocks are driven in large numbers from Tibet into British territory. One of the sensations of journeying in the hills of the 'interior,' as the farther recesses of the mountains are called by Anglo-Indians, is to come suddenly on such a drove, as it winds, with the multitudinous click of little feet, round the shoulder of some Himalayan spur. The coarse hair bags scrape the cliffside from which the narrow path is built out or hollowed, and allow but scant room for your pony, startled by the hurry and the quick-breathing rush of the creatures as they crowd and scuffle past. Only the picturesque shepherds return from these journeys. The carriers of the caravan (i.e.the sheep), feeding as they go, gather flesh in spite of their burdens, and provide most excellent mutton.... In the towns of the plains rams are kept as fighting animals. A Mohammedan swell going out for a stroll with his fighting-ram makes a picture of foppery not easily surpassed by the sporting 'fancy' of the West. The ram is neatly clipped, with a judicious reservation of the salient tufts, tipped with saffron and mauve dye, and besides a large collar of blue beads it wears a necklace of hawk-bells."
TheFat-tailed Sheepof Persia and Tartary exhibits a curious provision of nature. When food is plentiful, a quantity of fat accumulates on the tail and croup. As the pasture dries up and the animal finds little food, this store of fat is gradually absorbed. Another fat-tailed sheep is found from Syria and Egypt to the Cape. This has a long tail reaching to theground. In the Egyptian breed the tail is broad throughout; in the Syrian it narrows to a point. The ordinary weight of the Syrian sheep's tail is 15 lbs.; but in some well-fattened examples it reaches 70 or 80 lbs. Ludolph saw in Egypt a sheep's tail of 80 lbs. weight. This overgrown tail is a great encumbrance to the animal. In order to lighten the burden, the shepherds fasten under it a small board, sometimes with wheels attached, to make it easy to draw over the ground.
BLACK-FACED MOUNTAIN-SHEEP.Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.BLACK-FACED MOUNTAIN-SHEEP.The sheep of the high mountains and heather-moors.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.BLACK-FACED MOUNTAIN-SHEEP.The sheep of the high mountains and heather-moors.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.
BLACK-FACED MOUNTAIN-SHEEP.
The sheep of the high mountains and heather-moors.
In Greece, Wallachia, and Western Asia a fine breed of sheep, quite different from the English forms, is seen. It is called theWallachian Sheep. When the Zoological Gardens were first founded here, some of these sheep were introduced and crossed with English breeds. The horns are tall spirals, as in the great kudu antelope. The body is large, and the fleece long and straight, and more like that of the long-haired goats than curly wool.
There are now few countries in the world to which sheep have not been introduced. They were probably among the earliest animals to be domesticated. Certainly they are the first to be mentioned; for we learn that "Abel was a keeper of sheep," while Cain tilled the earth. The feud between the keeper of flocks and the grower of crops typified in this ancient quarrel still goes on wherever the wild mountain breeds of sheep are kept, for there is of necessity always danger that the wandering sheep may raid the plots of corn. In Spain a curious and ancient set of laws regulates the passage of the flocks to and from the mountain pastures through the corn-lands.
LEICESTER EWE.Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.LEICESTER EWE.A heavy, long-woolled breed.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.LEICESTER EWE.A heavy, long-woolled breed.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.
LEICESTER EWE.
A heavy, long-woolled breed.
It is said that the name of the famous breed of Spanish sheep known asMerinosrecalls their foreign origin from across the sea, and that they were originally imported into Spain from England. Whether that be so or not, it is certain that no one could recognise them now. The finest merino sheep, especially those bred in Australia, into which country they were imported some forty years ago, look as if covered with a dense growth of moss. The close wool grows not only on their backs, sides, and bellies, but on legs, forehead, and nose. There are believed to be ten millions of merino sheep in Spain, most of which are migratory. They are called "transhumantes," and are taken from the plains to the mountains and from the mountains to the plains yearly. These"transhumantes" are divided into flocks, each under a head shepherd, or "majoral." The flocks follow the shepherds, who lead the way, and direct the length and speed of the journey. A few wethers, trained to the business, follow the shepherds, and the rest come in due order. Powerful dogs accompany them as guards. This system of sheep migration is controlled by a tribunal termed the Mesta. It can be traced back to the middle of the fourteenth century. By it persons are prohibited from travelling along the course of the route pursued by the flocks so long as they are on the road. It also maintains the right for the flocks to graze on all the open or common land that lies in the way. Moreover, it claims a path ninety yards wide through all enclosed and cultivated country. The length of the journey is over 400 miles, which is accomplished in six or seven weeks. The system works greatly to the injury of local cultivators and stationary flocks, whose fields are injured by the migratory sheep.
CROSS-BRED SHEEP.Photo by W. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.CROSS-BRED SHEEP.The class of sheep kept mainly on cultivated land in the North Midlands.
Photo by W. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.CROSS-BRED SHEEP.The class of sheep kept mainly on cultivated land in the North Midlands.
Photo by W. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.
CROSS-BRED SHEEP.
The class of sheep kept mainly on cultivated land in the North Midlands.
English Breeds of Sheep.
In England are reared the finest and most valuable sheep. This is evident from the prices paid for them by foreigners and breeders in our colonies. Except for merinos, no one comes to any other country but this when about to seek new blood for their flocks or to stock new lands. Recently 1,000 guineas were paid by a firm in Argentina for a single Lincoln ram.
Differences, well marked and of great importance, exist between our different breeds. Each suits its own district, and each is carefully improved and kept pure by herd-books, in which all pedigree animals are entered.
The "general utility sheep" in England is theSouth Down; in Scotland, theBorder Leicester. The former is a small, fine sheep, with close wool, and yielding excellent mutton. It provides the meat sold in our best shops, and has largely stocked New Zealand. The original breed of England was possibly theCotswold; it is a tall, long-woolled, white-fleecedsheep. Later a large heavy sheep, with long wool and a massive body, was bred in the Midlands, and called theLeicester Long-wool. This sheep gives a great cut of wool, and much coarse mutton. TheCheviot Sheep, originally bred on the hills of that name, is now one of the mainstays of the Scotch mountain farmer. The Cheviots eat the grass on the high hillsides, while theBlack-faced Highland Sheeplive on the heather higher up. TheSuffolk,Oxford,Hampshire, and other "Down" sheep are larger breeds than the South Down. TheRomney Marsh Sheepare a heavy long-woolled breed. TheExmoorsare small heather-sheep like those of Wales, and theSoaandSt. Kilda Sheep, which are often four-horned, the smallest of all.
The maintenance of flocks is now almost an essential part of English agriculture on all chalk lands, which comprise a very large percentage of the southern counties. On the chalk downs the flocks are the great fertilisers of the soil. Every night the sheep are folded on the fields which are destined to produce corn in the following year. The manure so left on the soil ensures a good crop, with no expense for carting the fertiliser from the farmyard, as is the case with manure made by oxen kept in straw-yards.
On the South Downs, Oxfordshire Downs or Chiltern Hills, Salisbury Plain, and the Berkshire Downs the farms have been mainly carried on by the aid of the flocks. Where these are no longer kept the land reverts to grass, and the growing of corn ceases. On the coarse, new-sown grasses cattle take the place of sheep, and an inferior style of farming, like the ranches of South America, replaces the careful and highly skilled agriculture of Old England. In the far north of Scotland cross-bred sheep are now reared and fed in winter on turnips, which will grow luxuriantly where the climate is too bleak and wet for wheat.
Formerly cattle were the main source of wealth to the owners of Highland estates. The sheep was only introduced after the Highlands were subdued subsequently to the rebellion in 1745. It was found that the rough-coated heather-sheep throve on the wet and elevated hills. This led to their substitution for cattle, as wool was then dear. Sheep are now in their turn giving way to grouse and deer over much of the Central Highlands, as the price of wool has fallen.
LONK RAM.Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.LONK RAM.This is a photograph of the largest sheep on record.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.LONK RAM.This is a photograph of the largest sheep on record.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.
LONK RAM.
This is a photograph of the largest sheep on record.
WELSH EWES.Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.WELSH EWES.A small breed of hill-sheep.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.WELSH EWES.A small breed of hill-sheep.
Photo by J. T. Newman][Berkhamsted.
WELSH EWES.
A small breed of hill-sheep.
THE GOATS.
Though the dividing-line between the Sheep and Goats is very indistinct, some differences are of general application. The goats are distinguished by the unpleasant "hircine" odour of the males, and by beards on the chins of the same sex, by the absence of glands in the hind feet, which sheep possess, and by certain variations in the formation of the skull. The difference between the temperament of the sheep and goats is very curious and persistent, showing itself in a marked way, which affects their use in domestication to such a degree that the keeping of one or the other often marks the owners as possessors of different degrees of civilisation. Goats are restless, curious, adventurous, and so active that they cannot be kept in enclosed fields. For this reason they are not bred in any numbers in lands where agriculture is practised on modern principles; they are too enterprising and too destructive. Consequently the goat is usually only seen in large flocks on mountain pastures and rocky, uncultivated ground, where the flocks are taken out to feed by the children.
FEMALE ANGORA GOAT.Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.FEMALE ANGORA GOAT.The breed from which mohair is obtained.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.FEMALE ANGORA GOAT.The breed from which mohair is obtained.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.
FEMALE ANGORA GOAT.
The breed from which mohair is obtained.
ANGORA RAM.Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.ANGORA RAM.These goats were originally obtained from Turkey in Asia, and exported to South Africa.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.ANGORA RAM.These goats were originally obtained from Turkey in Asia, and exported to South Africa.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.
ANGORA RAM.
These goats were originally obtained from Turkey in Asia, and exported to South Africa.
On the high Alps, in Greece, on the Apennines, and in Palestine the goat is a valuable domestic animal. The milk, butter, and cheese, and also the flesh of the kids, are in great esteem. But wherever the land is enclosed, and high cultivation attempted, the goat is banished, and the more docile and controllable sheep takes its place. In Syria the goat is perhaps more docile and better understood as a dairy animal than elsewhere in the East. The flocks are driven into Damascus in the morning; and instead of a milk-cart calling, the flock itself goes round the city, and particular goats are milked before the doors of regular customers.
TheEuropean Goatis a very useful animal for providing milk to poor families in large towns. The following account of its present uses was recently published: "The sheep, while preserving its hardy habits in some districts, as on Exmoor, in Wales, and the Highlands, adapts itself to richer food, and acquires the habits as well as the digestion of domestication. The goat remains, as in old days, theenemy of trees, inquisitive, omnivorous, pugnacious. It is unsuited for the settled life of the English farm. Rich pasture makes it ill, and a good clay soil, on which cattle grow fat, kills it. But it is far from being disqualified for the service of some forms of modern civilisation by the survival of primitive habits. Though it cannot live comfortably in the smiling pastures of the low country, it is perfectly willing to exchange the rocks of the mountain for a stable-yard in town. Its love for stony places is amply satisfied by the granite pavement of a 'mews,' and it has been ascertained that goats fed in stalls and allowed to wander in paved courts and yards live longer and enjoy better health than those tethered even on light pastures. In parts of New York the city goats are said to flourish on the paste-daubed paper of the advertisements, which they nibble from the hoardings. It is beyond doubt that these hardy creatures are exactly suited for living in large towns; an environment of bricks and mortar and paving-stones suits them. Their spirits rise in proportion to what we should deem the depressing nature of their surroundings. They love to be tethered on a common, with scanty grass and a stock of furze-bushes to nibble. A deserted brick-field, with plenty of broken drain-tiles, rubbish-heaps, and weeds, pleases them still better. Almost any kind of food seems to suit them. Not even the pig has so varied a diet as the goat; it consumes and converts into milk not only great quantities of garden-stuff which would otherwise be wasted, but also, thanks to its love for eating twigs and shoots, it enjoys the prunings and loppings of bushes and trees. In the Mont d'Or district of France the goats are fed on oatmeal porridge. With this diet, and plenty of salt, the animals are scarcely ever ill, and never suffer from tuberculosis; they will often give ten times their own weight of milk in a year."
The Kashmir shawls are made of the finest goats' hair. Most of this very soft hair is obtained from the under-fur of goats kept in Tibet, and by the Kirghiz in Central Asia. Only a small quantity, averaging 3 ozs., is produced yearly by each animal. The wool is purchased by middlemen, and taken to Kashmir for manufacture.
In India the goat reaches perhaps the highest point of domestication. The flocks are in charge of herd-boys, but the animals are so docile that they are regarded with no hostility by the cultivators of corn and cereals. Tame goats are also kept throughout Africa. The valuableAngorabreed, from which "mohair" is obtained, is now domesticated in South Africa and in Australia. In the former country it is a great commercial success. The animals were obtained with great difficulty, as the Turkish owners did not wish to sell their best-bred goats; but when once established at the Cape, it was found that they proved better producers of mohair than when in their native province of Angora. The "clip" from their descendants steadily improves.
BRITISH GOAT.Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.BRITISH GOAT.A much-neglected breed in this country. Note the shape of this animal.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.BRITISH GOAT.A much-neglected breed in this country. Note the shape of this animal.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.
BRITISH GOAT.
A much-neglected breed in this country. Note the shape of this animal.
WILD GOATS
The Tur.
In the Caucasus, both east and west, in the Pyrenees, and on the South Spanish sierras three fine wild goats, with some features not unlike the burhal sheep, are found. They are calledTurby the Caucasian mountaineers. The species found in the East Caucasus differs from that of the west of the range, and both from that of Spain. TheEast Caucasian Turis a massive, heavy animal, all brown in colour (except on the fronts of the legs, which are blackish), and with horns springing from each side of the skull like half-circles. The males are 38 inches high at the shoulder. The short beard and tail are blackish, and there is no white on the coat. TheWest Caucasian Turis much lighter in colour than that of the East Caucasus, and the horns point backwards, more like those of the ibex, though set on the skull at a different angle. TheSpanish Turhas the belly and inner sides of the legs white, and a blackish line along the flank, dividing the white from the brown; also a blackish chest, and some grey on the flank.
In the Caucasus the tur are found on the high crags above the snow-line in summer, whence they descend at night to feed on patches of upland grass; but the main home of the tur by day is above the snowline. The Spanish species modifies its habits according to the ground on which it lives. Mr. E. N. Buxton found it in dense scrub, while on the Andalusian sierras it frequents bare peaks 10,000 feet high. In Spain tur are sometimes seen in flocks of from 100 to 150 each.
FEMALE TOGGENBURG GOAT.By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.FEMALE TOGGENBURG GOAT.These goats are milk-goatspar excellence; they remain in profit for at least ten months in the year. Each goat produces on an average from 110 to 120 gallons of milk during the year.
By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.FEMALE TOGGENBURG GOAT.These goats are milk-goatspar excellence; they remain in profit for at least ten months in the year. Each goat produces on an average from 110 to 120 gallons of milk during the year.
By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.
FEMALE TOGGENBURG GOAT.
These goats are milk-goatspar excellence; they remain in profit for at least ten months in the year. Each goat produces on an average from 110 to 120 gallons of milk during the year.
STUD TOGGENBURG GOAT.By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.STUD TOGGENBURG GOAT.This breed originally came from Switzerland, but is now well known in England. The animals are fine in bone, have a long, thin neck, with two tassel-like appendages.
By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.STUD TOGGENBURG GOAT.This breed originally came from Switzerland, but is now well known in England. The animals are fine in bone, have a long, thin neck, with two tassel-like appendages.
By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.
STUD TOGGENBURG GOAT.
This breed originally came from Switzerland, but is now well known in England. The animals are fine in bone, have a long, thin neck, with two tassel-like appendages.
The Persian Wild Goat.
The original of our domesticated goat is thought by some to be thePasang, orPersian Wild Goat. It is a fine animal, with large scimitar-shaped horns, curving backwards, flattened laterally, and with knobs on the front edge at irregular intervals. It is more slender in build than the tur, light brown in general colour, marked with a black linealong the nape and back, black tail, white belly, blackish shoulder-stripe, and a black line dividing the hinder part of the flank from the white belly. Formerly found in the islands of South-eastern Europe, it now inhabits parts of the Caucasus, the Armenian Highlands, Mount Ararat, and the Persian mountains as far east as Baluchistan. A smaller race is found in Sind. It lives in herds, sometimes of considerable size, and frequents not only the high ground, but the mountain forests and scrub, where such cover exists. The domesticated goat of Sweden is said to be certainly a descendant of this species.
SCHWARTZALS GOAT.By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.SCHWARTZALS GOAT.A large, long-haired breed, which derives its name from its peculiar colour, the fore part of the body being black and the hinder part white. These goats are good milkers.
By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.SCHWARTZALS GOAT.A large, long-haired breed, which derives its name from its peculiar colour, the fore part of the body being black and the hinder part white. These goats are good milkers.
By permission of P. Thomas, Esq.
SCHWARTZALS GOAT.
A large, long-haired breed, which derives its name from its peculiar colour, the fore part of the body being black and the hinder part white. These goats are good milkers.
The Ibex.
Of theIbex, perhaps the best known of all the wild goats, several species, differing somewhat in size and in the form of their horns, are found in various parts of the Old World. Of these, theArabian Ibexinhabits the mountains of Southern Arabia, Palestine, and Sinai, Upper Egypt, and perhaps Morocco. TheAbyssinian Ibexis found in the high mountains of the country from which it takes its name. TheAlpine Ibexis now extinct in the Swiss Alps and Tyrol, but survives on the Piedmontese side of Monte Rosa. TheAsiatic Ibexis the finest of the group; its horns have been found to measure 54¾ inches along the curve. This ibex inhabits the mountain-ranges of Central Asia, from the Altai to the Himalaya, and the Himalaya as far as the source of the Ganges.
The King of Italy is the great preserver of theAlpine Ibex, and has succeeded where the nobles of the Tyrol have failed. The animals are shot by driving them, the drivers being expert mountaineers. The way in which the ibex come down the passes and over the precipices is simply astonishing. One writer lately saw them springing down perpendicular heights of 40 feet, or descending "chimneys" in the mountain-face by simply cannoning off with their feet from side to side. Young ibex can be tamed with ease, the only drawback to their maintenance being the impossibility of confining them. They will spring on to the roof ofa house, and spend the day there by preference, though allowed the run of all the premises. The kids are generally two in number; they are born in June.
MALE ALPINE IBEX.Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.MALE ALPINE IBEX.The finest wild goat of Europe, formerly common on the Swiss Alps, now only on a limited area on the Italian side.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.MALE ALPINE IBEX.The finest wild goat of Europe, formerly common on the Swiss Alps, now only on a limited area on the Italian side.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.
MALE ALPINE IBEX.
The finest wild goat of Europe, formerly common on the Swiss Alps, now only on a limited area on the Italian side.
YOUNG MALE ALPINE IBEXPhoto by S. G. Payne, Aytenbury, by permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild.YOUNG MALE ALPINE IBEXThe photograph shows the corrugated horns of the male.
Photo by S. G. Payne, Aytenbury, by permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild.YOUNG MALE ALPINE IBEXThe photograph shows the corrugated horns of the male.
Photo by S. G. Payne, Aytenbury, by permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild.
YOUNG MALE ALPINE IBEX
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.
TheTahrof 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 sizeof 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.
NUBIAN GOAT.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.
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.
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.
Tahr live in the forest districts of the Middle Himalaya, where they are found on very high and difficult ground. General Donald Macintyre shot one standing on the brink of an almost sheer precipice. Down this it fell, and the distance in sheer depth was such that it was difficult to see the body even with glasses. The tahr is fairly common all along the higher Himalayan Range. Its bones are believed to be a sovereign cure for rheumatism, and are exported to India for that object. A smaller kind is found in the mountains of Eastern Arabia, where very few English sportsmen have yet cared to attempt to shoot them.
The Nilgiri Tahr, or Nilgiri Ibex.
Though not an ibex, the sportsmen of India early gave this name to the tahr of the Nilgiri and Anamalai Hills. The Himalayan species is covered with long, shaggy hair; the South Indian has short, smooth brown hair.
"The ibex," says Hawkeye, the Indian sportsman, of this animal, "is massively formed, with short legs, remarkably strong fetlocks, and a heavy carcase, short and well ribbed up, combining strength and agility wonderful to behold. Its habits are gregarious, and the does are seldom met with separate from the flock or herd, though males often are. The latter assume, as they grow old, a distinctive appearance. The hair on the back becomes lighter, almost white in some cases, causing a kind of saddle to appear; and from that time they become known to the shikaries as the saddle-backs of the herd, an object of ambition to the eyes of the true sportsman. It is a pleasant sight to watch a herd of ibex feeding undisturbed, the kids frisking here and there on pinnacles or ledges of rock and beetling cliffs where there seems scarcely safe hold for anything much larger than a grasshopper, the old mother looking calmly on. Then again, see the caution observed in taking up their resting- or abiding-places for the day, where they may be warmed by the sun, listening to the war of many waters, chewing the cud of contentment, and giving themselves up to the full enjoyment of their nomadic life and its romantic haunts. Usually, before reposing, one of their number, generally an old doe, may be observed gazing intently below, apparently scanning every spot in the range of her vision, sometimes for half an hour or more, before she is satisfied that all is well, but, strange to say, seldom or never looking up to the rocks above. Then, being satisfied on the one side, she follows the same process on the other, and eventually lies down calmly, contented with the precautions she has taken. Should the sentinel be joined by another, or her kid come and lie by her, they always lie back to back, in such a manner as to keep a good look-out to either side. A solitary male goes through all this by himself, and wonderfully careful he is; but when with the herd he reposes in security, leaving it to the female to take precautions for their joint safety."
ITALIAN GOAT.Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.ITALIAN GOAT.From the earliest Roman days these goats have been the main form of livestock kept by the mountaineers of the Apennines.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.ITALIAN GOAT.From the earliest Roman days these goats have been the main form of livestock kept by the mountaineers of the Apennines.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.
ITALIAN GOAT.
From the earliest Roman days these goats have been the main form of livestock kept by the mountaineers of the Apennines.