Chapter Twenty. Goats - Book of Zoology for Boys by Mayne Reid
My young readers will be surprised to hear that nothing is more difficult than to tell a Goat from a Sheep. Yet such is in reality the fact. Of course the common goat is easily distinguished from the common sheep; but then there are species and varieties of both these animals so like in shape, size, colour, and habits, that the most accomplished naturalists are unable to pronounce which are goats and which are sheep! Indeed, some naturalists make no distinction at all, but class both under the same genus. This, however, is not a correct view, since there is an essential difference in the nature of these two animals, notwithstanding the frequent resemblance in their outward appearance. It was upon this very point—their nature—that the renowned Buffon relied in separating them; he alleging that the sheep differed only from the goats in the greater gentleness and timidity of their disposition. It is true that this is not a very scientific mode of classification; yet, strange to say, it is held to be one of the safest guides for distinguishing the one from the other. Of course, it can only be relied upon when taken in connection with other indices of a physical character. Perhaps you may fancy that goats and sheep may be distinguished from each other by the “coat”—the former having a hairy coat, while that of the latter is woolly. For you who reside in the British Islands, this mark would stand good enough, since British goats are in reality clothed with hair, and British sheep with wool; but in many other countries the case is not only different, but directly the reverse, the goats being woolly, while the sheep are hairy!
It may be further remarked, that there are both goats and sheep so very nearly akin to antelopes, that it is again difficult to draw a line of distinction among the three. Indeed, there is a section of the antelope tribe, called the goat-antelopes, so called on account of this very approximation. Several species of antelopes—as the chamois of the Alps, and others—are by many naturalists classed as goats; and the bighorn of the Rocky Mountains, which is a true wild sheep, is also classed by some zoologists as a species of antelope.
The goats approach nearer to the nature of antelopes than do the sheep. In fact, the mountain antelopes are extremely like goats in their nature and habits. On this account the latter are supposed to stand between the sheep and antelopes.
We shall separate the goats into two kinds: first, the tame or domesticated goats; and secondly, the wild ones. Of the domesticated kind there is an endless list of varieties; and upon the question as to which of the wild species was the parent stock, thousands of opinions have been expressed, and long treatises written. It is just as with the dog, and other domestic animals—no one can certainly say what species was first introduced to the society of human beings; and it is far more likely that it was not any one wild species, but several, and belonging to different countries, that gave origin to the numerous kinds of goats now in the possession of man.
It would be a troublesome task to describe these numerous varieties. Every country has its kind; and, in fact, every district of country can show a breed distinct from all the others. Instead of specifying each breed, we shall only mention a few of the more noted and valuable sorts.
The Thibet or Cashmere goat is perhaps the most celebrated of the tribe; its celebrity arising from the fineness of its wool, out of which are manufactured the costly Cashmere shawls. An attempt was made to introduce this variety into England; but it has not been successful, though the cause of its failure has not been communicated to the public. We can easily find a very good reason in the fact, that a first-class Cashmere shawl requires a year in its manufacture; and therefore, if an English weaver were to have the raw material for nothing, his labour would amount to more than the shawl was worth in the market! It is just the same with the culture of the tea-plant. There are many districts in America where the tea-tree would flourish as well as in China; but what would be the use of growing it there, since the labour required to bring it to a state of readiness for the teapot would also raise it to an unsaleable price! These are the important principles that people who talk of protective duties entirely lose sight of.
The best Cashmere goats are brought from the Thibet country; and then wool sells for a rupee a pound in Cashmere itself. It is spun by the women, and afterwards dyed. The persons employed in making the shawls sit on a bench around the frame. If it be a pattern shawl, four persons labour at its manufacture; but a plain one requires only two. The borders are marked with wooden needles, there being a separate needle for each colour; and the rough side of the shawl is uppermost while it is being made.
The best shawls are manufactured in the kingdom of Cashmere itself, though many are made in other Oriental countries, and also in France; and the wool of several varieties of the goat, besides the Thibet, is used in the manufacture. In Cashmere alone 30,000 shawls are made annually—giving employment to about 50,000 people.
The Angora goat is another noted variety—esteemed for its fine silky hair. It inhabits the countries of Angora and Beibazar, in Asiatic Turkey, where it is kept in large flocks, the goatherds bestowing much care upon the animals—frequently combing and washing them!
The Syrian goat, remarkable for its excessively long ears, is reared in Aleppo and other parts of Asiatic Turkey, and is kept for the use of its milk, with which many of the towns are supplied.
There are other varieties less noted, among which may be mentioned the Spanish goats, without horns; the Juda, or African goat, with two hairy wattles under the chin; and the pretty little Whidaw goat—also a small African variety. There is also a Nepaul goat, and one belonging to the Deccan, called Bukee—a very large gaunt fellow, with long shaggy hair. The Irish goat, too, is a peculiar variety of the common or domestic species.
Tame goats are distributed very generally over all the Old World. They thrive well in the cold climate of Norway; and are equally at home in the hottest parts of Africa and the Indian islands. In America they are rare, in the territory inhabited by the Anglo-Saxon races—it not being considered a valuable speculation to “raise” them; but throughout the Spanish territories, both in North and South America, large flocks may be seen, and the wild goats of Juan Fernandez are descendants of these Spanish-American domesticated breeds.
The species of true wild goats are not numerous, but are very generally distributed over the world—particularly over the old continents. In America only one wild species is indigenous: that is, the Rocky Mountain goat. Some authors have asserted that this species is not indigenous to America; but most certainly this statement is an error. From its peculiar appearance, as well as from the locality in which it is found, it could never have sprung from any known domesticated breed. It is a long-haired creature, snow-white in colour, and with very short straight horns. Its hair is of silky hue and fineness, and hangs so low that the animal appears as if without legs. Its skin makes one of the most beautiful of saddle covers; and for this purpose it is used; but the animal itself being rare, and only found in the most remote and inaccessible regions of the Rocky Mountains, a good skin is as costly as it is valuable. It is met with in the great central range, from Northern Mexico, as far north as the Rocky Mountains extend; and it is supposed also to exist among the higher summits of the Californian mountains.
The Ibex is another species of wild goat, somewhat celebrated. It is the wild goat of the European Alps, where it is known by the Germans as Stein-boc, and as Bouquetin among the French.
Another ibex belongs to the Caucasian Mountains, called Zebudor, or Hach; and still another kind inhabits the Himalayas, where it passes under the name of Sakeen. There is also an ibex in Siberia; and still another in the Pyrenees.
In addition to these, there is a large wild goat in the loftiest Himalayas, known as the Jaral, or Tur; and another in India called the Jungle Kemas, or Wild Sheep of Tenasserim. In Northern Africa, again, there are several species of native wild goats, as the Jaela in Egypt, and the Walie of the African-Arab countries; but in South Africa no indigenous wild goats have been observed—their place in that region being supplied by their near congeners the Klipspringers, and other rock-loving antelopes.