The Common Goat inhabits wild and mountainous regions in a state of
semi-wildness, seeming to have little regard either for the protection
or the neglect of people resident in its vicinity; but although not
cared for, like its not very distant relative, the Sheep, it is by no
means without its value. The Goat affords milk in considerable
abundance; its hair, though more harsh than wool, is useful in the
manufacture of various kinds of stuffs, and its skin is more valuable
than that of the sheep. The Goat has more intelligence than the Sheep,
and soon becomes familiar and attached; it is light, active, and less
timid than the Sheep; it is capricious and loves to wander, to climb
steep mountains, sleeping frequently on the point of a rock or the edge
of a precipice. It is robust, and will feed on almost any plant. It does
not, like the Sheep, avoid the mid-day heat, but sleeps in the sunshine,
and exposes itself willingly to its full glare. It is not alarmed by
storms, but appears to suffer from a great degree of cold.