These animals differ among themselves to a wonderful extent in their
shape, their color and even in the texture of their fleece. The Goats of
Angora in Cappadocia are provided with a soft and silky clothing. Those
of Thibet have become celebrated for the delicacy of a kind of wool
which grows among their hair, from which Cashmere shawls are
manufactured. In Upper Egypt is a race remarkable for the roughness of
their coat, while the Goats of Guinea and of Judea are distinguished by
the smallness of their dimensions, and by their horns, which are pointed
backwards. But whatever may be the cause of these peculiarities, the
whole race seems to retain the characters derivable from a mountain
origin; they are robust, capricious, and vagabond; they prefer dry hills
and wild localities, where they can procure only the coarsest herbage,
or browse upon the shrubs and bushes. They are likewise very injurious
in forests, where they destroy the young trees by devouring the bark.
Their flesh is strong and rank, so that they are seldom eaten;
nevertheless, their milk is an article of diet, and the Kid, while
young, is tender and nutritious.