Page images
PDF
EPUB

every possible precaution, the flesh is never so good nor so sweet as mutton. Between the tropics, the case is different; there the mutton becomes lean and flabby, whereas the flesh of the goat rather improves, and is by some pre. ferred to the mutton. Thus it appears that this animal seems well adapted to supply the necessities of man in both extremes, in almost every part of the world. In northern countries, where the pasture is barren and coarse, the goat finds a subsistence among the shrubs as well suited to his nature; between the tropics, where the excessive heat causes other cattle to degenerate, the goat is on the contrary, nourished by the warmth, and his flesh improves accordingly.

THE CHAMOIS, There are some animals which do not belong to any particular country, but are found in almost all parts of the earth, whilst others seem to have particular situations allotted to them byprovidence, and are furnished, accordingly, with that nature and those instincts which fit them for the life they are to lead, and are best calculated for the residence and climate assigned to them. The wild and rugged Alps, whose tops are for ever hid in snow, and whose sides afford but a scanty herbage, seem badly calculated for the support of animal life'; yet, as the Almighty always adapts the nature of his creatures to their means of support, the wild goat, which is destined to live in the mountains, finds them clothed with a sufficiency to satisfy his

wants.

[graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small]

The Chamois is supposed to be the parent stock from which the domestic goat has proceed. ed, and therefore we shall add a short account of it. It is most agreeably lively, and active, beyond expression. The chamois' hair is short, like that of the doe; in spring it is of an ash colour, and in autumn, a dun colour, inclining to black, and in winter, of a blackish brown, This animal is found in great plenty in the mountains of Dauphiny, of Piedmont, Savoy, Switzerland, and Germany. They are peaceful, gentle creatures, and live in society with each other. They are found in flocks of from four to fourscore, upon the crags of the mountains, with one posted as a sentinel upon an adjoining height, to spread the alarm in case of any approaching danger. The chamois has scarcely any cry, as most animals are known to have: if it has any, it is a kind of feeble bleat, by which the parent calls its young. But in cases of danger, and when it is to warn the rest of the flock, it uses a hissing noise, which is heard at a great distance. For it is to be observed, that this creature is extremely vigilant, and has an eye, the quickest and most piercing in nature. Its smell is not less distinguishing, When it sees its enemy distinctly, it stops for a moment; and then, if the person be near, in an instant after, it flies off. In the same manner, by its smell, it can discover a man at half a Jeague distance, and gives the earliest notice.Upon any alarm, therefore, or any apprehen

sions of danger, the chamois begins his hissing note with such force, that the rocks and the fo. rest re-echo to the sound. The first hiss con. tinues as long as the time of one expiration. In the beginning, it is very sharp, and deeper to. wards the close. The animal after this first alarm, again looks round, and perceiving the reality of its fears, continues to hiss by in. tervals, until it has spread the alarm to a very great distance. During this time, it seems in the most violent agitation; it strikes the ground with the fore.foot, and sometimes with both; it bounds from rock to rock; it turns and looks round; it runs to the edge of the precipice; and, still perceiving the enemy, flies with all its speed. The hissing of the male is much louder and sharper than that of the female: it is performed through the nose, and is properly no more than a very strong breath, driver violently through a small aperture. The chamois feeds upon the best herbage, and chuses the most delicate part of the plants, the flower and the tender buds. It is no less delicate with regard to several aromatic herbs, which grow upon the side of the mountains. It drinks but very little, while it feeds upon the succulent herbage, and chews the cud in the intervals of feeding. This animal is greatly admired for the beauty of its eyes, which are round and spark. ling, and which mark the warmth of its consti, tution. Its head is furnished with two short horns, of about half a foot long, of a beautiful black, and rising from the forehead, almost be. twixt the eyes. These, contrary to what they are found in other animals, instead of going backwards or sideways, jet out forward, and bend a little, at their extremities, backward, in a small circle, and end in a very sharp point. The ears are placed in a very elegant manner, near the horus; and there are two stripes of black, on each side of the face, the rest being of a whitish yellow, which never changes. The horn of this animal is often used as the head of Those of the female are less, and not so much bent; and some farriers are seen to bleed cattle with them. These animals are so much incommoded by heat, that they are never found in summer, except in the caverns of rocks, amidst fragments of unmelted ice, under the shade of high and spreading trees, or of rough and hanging precipices, that face the north, and which keep off entirely the rays of the sun.They go to pasture both morning and evening, and seldom during the heat of the day. They run along the rocks with great ease and seeming indifference, and leap from one to another, so that no dogs are able to pursue them. There is nothing more extraordinary than to see them climbing and descending precipices, that to all other quadrupeds, are inaccessible. They al. ways mount or descend in an oblique direction; and throw themselves down a rock thirty feet

a cane.

« PreviousContinue »