The fierce Gnoo, Gnu, or _Blue Wilde Beest_ of the colonists to the north of the Cape of Good Hope, are not as numerous as the spring-boks; and are easily distinguished by their large, curving horns, and the downward carriage of their head; for they never can look up. One was found with a fore leg caught over his horn, and so was easily secured; for he could not, of course, run, and had probably got himself into that attitude when fighting. They have a shaggy head, long hair or mane upon the chest, a long white tail, and wild red eyes. They utter fearful snorts, and kick and leap about in the most grotesque and fantastic manner. If a red handkerchief be held before them, it produces the most violent excitement. GOATS. The three last genera of which I shall treat are all Ruminantia, and are distinguished by their horns, which are divided into cells; and which cells communicate with the skull. The two first, goats and sheep, so closely resemble each other, that in many instances the one appears to be a mere variety of the other. If we look at the Merino breed, with its closely curled, soft, white wool, and then turn to a grave-looking goat, with its long beard and hair, we shall not be conscious of their resemblance; but if we place a sheep that has long resided in, or been born in a tropical country, by the side of the goat, we shall scarcely be able to distinguish one from the other. The wool gradually uncurls, lengthens, and becomes harsh and glossy; and were not the goat's horns directed upward, and then inclined backwards, those of the sheep directed backwards and returned to the front in a spiral form; had not the goats, generally speaking, a long beard, and the sheep none, and had not the goats a concave or flat forehead, and the sheep mostly a convex one, we should not be able to separate them; and even these characters--if not well defined--are not very conspicuous, unless to a practised, or careful observer. The Chamois, which is classed by many among goats, in some degree approaches the antelopes. Its horns shoot straight up, and then at the tips turn suddenly back, like a fish hook; it frequents all the mountain chains of Europe and western Asia; in summer climbing to the highest summits, and displaying the most daring agility. In the winter it comes down just below the regions of perpetual snow, for the sake of nourishment. Its smell, sight, and hearing, are very acute, and it will detect the approach of a hunter at the distance of half a league. When frightened, it bounds from rock to rock, making a strange hissing sound; dashes itself across the most fearful chasms, and throws itself down precipices of thirty feet. It feeds on herbs and flowers, and the young shoots of shrubs; seldom drinks, and is extremely fond of salt. As some of the rocks of the Alps contain saltpeter, the chamois has worn holes in them by constant licking.