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THE best account which we have of this creature, is furnished by the late Mr. Charles Taylor, from whom we have selected the materials for the following article.

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There are three places in scripture where an animal of the goat kind is mentioned, either directly, or by allusion, 1 Sam. xxiv. 'Saul went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats:' literally, on the superfices, or on the face of the rocks of the IOLIM. Psalm civ. 18: The high mountains to the Ibices, (IOLIM) are a refuge; rocks are the refuge to the Saphanim.' But there is a third passage where it is more distinctly referred to, and its manners described at greater length :-in our translation, Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rocks bring forth? Canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? Canst thou number the months they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth? They bow themselves; they bring forth their young ones; they cast out their sorrows. Their young ones are in good liking; they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not to them,' Job xxxix. 1-4. A fourth passage presents this creature, the IOLEH, in a feminine form: Let thy wife be as the loving hind, and the pleasant roe,' Proverbs v. 19.

The specific character of the Bouquetin, or rock goat, is taken from the beard and horns, which are knobbed along the upper or anterior surface, and recline towards the back. The wild goat is larger than the tame goat, but resembles it much in the outer form. The head is small in proportion to the body, with the muzzle thick

and compressed, and a little arched. The eyes are large and round, and have much fire and brilliancy. The horns are large, when of a full size, weighing sometimes sixteen or eighteen pounds, flatted before and rounded behind, with one or two longitudinal ridges, and many transverse ridges, which degenerate towards the tip into knobs. The colour is dusky brown; the beard long, tawny, or dusky; the legs slender, with hoofs short, hollow on the inside, and on the outside terminated by a salient border, like those of the chamois. The body is short, thick and strong; the tail short, naked underneath, the rest covered with long hairs, white at the base and sides, black above and at the end. The coat is long, but not pendent, ash coloured, mixed with some hoary hairs. A black list runs along the back, and there is a black spot above and below the knees. Its color, however, like that of other animals, must necessarily vary according to its age, and to local circumstances.

The female is one-third less than the male, and not so corpulent : her color is less tawny; and her horns are not above eight inches long.

In a state of tranquillity, the rock goat commonly carries the head low; but in running it holds it high, and even bends it a little forward. It mounts a perpendicular rock of fifteen feet at three leaps, or rather three successive leaps, or three successive bounds of five feet each. It does not seem as if he found any footing on the rock, appearing to touch it merely to be repelled, like an elastic substance striking against a hard body. If he is between two rocks which are near each other, and wants to reach the top, he leaps from the side of one rock to the other alternately, till he has obtained the summit. He also traverses the glaciers with rapidity when he is pursued.

The Bouquetins feed, during the night, in the highest woods; but the sun no sooner begins to gild the summits, than they quit the woody region, and mount, feeding in their progress, till they have reached the most considerable heights. They betake themselves to the sides of the mountains which face the east or south, and lie down in the highest places and hottest exposures; but when the sun has finished more than three quarters of its course, they again begin to feed, and to descend towards the woods; whither they retire when it is likely to snow, and where they always pass the winter. The Bouquetins assemble in flocks, consisting at most of ten, twelve, or fifteen; but more usually in smaller numbers. The males which are six years old and upwards, haunt more elevated places than the females and the younger Bouquetins; and as they advance in age, they are less fond of society, and frequently live entirely alone. Having their fore legs somewhat shorter than the hind legs, they naturally ascend with greater facility than they descend; for this reason, nothing but the severest weather can engage them to come down into the lower regions; and even in winter, if there are a few fine days, they leave the woods and mount higher. These facts were not unobserved by the Psalmist, as we see from one of the passages above cited.

None but the inhabitants of the mountains engage in the chase of this animal; for it requires, not only a head that can bear to look down from the greatest heights without terror; address and sure footedness in the most difficult and dangerous passes; and to be an excellent marksman; but also much strength and vigor, to support hunger, cold, and prodigious fatigue. This shows the propriety with which the inspired writer calls the dreary and frightful precipices which frown over the Dead Sea, towards the wilderness of Engedi, The rocks of the wild goats;' as if accessible only to those animals.

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THIS animal is not mentioned in our translation of the Bible; but it is generally agreed, that the Zebi, which our translators take for the roe, is the gazelle, or antelope. The former animal is extremely rare in Palestine and the adjoining countries; while the latter is common in every part of the Levant. Add to this, that the Zebi was allowed to the Hebrews, as an article of food, (Deut. xii. 5, &c.), and scarcely a doubt can remain on the subject.

The name of this animal, which is from a verb signifying to assemble, or collect together, is very characteristic of the gregarious character of the antelope, which live together in large troops, to the number sometimes of two or three thousand. The Septuagint, or Greek version of the Bible, uniformly translates the Hebrew word beauty; and it is so translated, 2 Sam. i. 19; Isaiah iv. 2; Ezek. vii. 20, &c.

The gazelle forms a connecting species between the goat and the deer kinds; somewhat resembling the former internally, and the latter externally, excepting its horns, which are annulated or ringed round, with longitudinal depressions running from the bottom to the point. Of all animals in the world the gazelle is said to have the most beautiful eye.

From Dr. Russell we learn, that the inhabitants of Syria distinguish between the antelope of the mountain, and that of the plain. The former is the most beautifully formed, and it bounds with surprising agility; the latter is of a much lighter color, and is neither so strong nor so active. Both, however, are so fleet, that the greyhounds, though reckoned excellent cannot come up with them, without the aid of the falcon, except in soft deep ground. It is to the former species of this animal, apparently, that the sacred writers allude, since they distinctly notice their fleetness upon the mountains, 1 Chron. xii. 8; Cant. ii. 8, 9, 17; viii. 14.

The usual method of taking the antelope is by hunting it with the falcon, or the ounce; but it is sometimes taken by the following expedient. A tame antelope, bred up for the purpose, is taught to join those of its kind wherever it perceives them. When the hunter, therefore, discovers a herd of these together, he fixes a noose round the horns of the tame animal, in such a manner, that if the rest but touch it they are entangled; and thus prepared, he sends his antelope among the rest. The tame animal no sooner approaches, but the males of the herd instantly sally forth to oppose him; and in butting with their horns are caught in the noose. Finding itself taken in the snare, terror lends it additional strength and activity, and it makes the most vigorous exertions to disentangle itself, and escape before the hunter can come up with it. Its effort under these circumstances is proposed for imitation to the person who had rashly become surety for his neighbor: 'Deliver thyself as an antelope from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler,' (Prov. vi. 5.); that is, 'Thou hast imprudently placed thyself in perilous circumstances, suffer no delay in making an effort for thy release.'

There seems to be something so highly figurative in the exclamation of the bride, (Cant. i. 7), 'Tell me, O thou, whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest,' &c. that it has never occurred to critics, that the speaker, assuming the metaphorical character of a gazelle or antelope, inquires for the resting place of the flock, wherein she also might rest. They have usually supposed that she makes this inquiry in the character of a shepherdess, meaning to accompany her shepherd, and to associate with him at the noon time of day, when he would be reposing.

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THE hind and the roe, and the hart and the antelope, have always been held in the highest estimation by the orientals, for the voluptuous beauty of their eyes, the delicate elegance of their form, and their graceful agility of action. In the sacred writings, therefore, as well as in other literary compositions of the East, we frequently meet with direct references, or incidental allusions to their qualities and habits. The hart, which is the stag or male deer, is one of those innocent and peaceable animals that seem to embellish the forest, and animate the solitudes of nature. The easy elegance of his form, the lightness of his motions; those large branches that seem made rather for the ornament of his head than its defence; the size, the strength, and the swiftness of this beautiful creature; all sufficiently rank him among the first of quadrupeds, and among the most noted objects of human curiosity. But, as this animal is so well known, it is not necessary that we should occupy much of our space in minute verbal description. The horns of the deer,

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