There are few pursuits more arduous and difficult than the hunting of the chamois. Being wholly confined to rocky and mountainous situations, dogs are nearly useless in it; and such are the sagacity and acuteness of perception of these animals, that they take alarm at the most distant approach of danger, and the stratagems which are practised to come within gun-shot of them are almost innumerable. They associate in flocks consisting of from four or five to nearly a hundred in number; and, when alarmed, they are able to spring, at a single leap, up rocks the perpendicular height of which is more than twenty feet, and in this case, by a few bounds, they throw themselves entirely out of the reach of their pursuers. If hard pressed, they will sometimes turn upon the hunter and attack him with fury; and instances have been related of men, thus attacked, having been thrown down precipices and destroyed by them. The chief objects of this pursuit are the _flesh_ and the _skin_. The former is, in general, a nutritious and wholesome food, and the latter is useful in numerous ways. When dressed, it forms a soft, warm, and pliable leather, which has the name of _shammoy_, and is manufactured into breeches, vests, and gloves, that are very durable and are much used by the labouring classes of people on the Continent. Of late years, however, the art of tanning has been brought to so much perfection, that excellent shammoy leather is made from the skins of the goat, the sheep, and the deer. The _horns_ of the chamois are often cut into heads for canes, and the farriers of the Continent sometimes sharpen and use them for the bleeding of cattle. The _blood_ of these animals is used medicinally, and, in Switzerland, is a celebrated nostrum for the cure of pleurisy and some other complaints. 87. _The COMMON ANTELOPE_ (Antilope cervicapra, Fig. 12) _is a quadruped distinguished by having spiral, round, and expanded horns, each marked with a great number of prominent rings; and the body of a brown colour, clouded with whitish and dusky shades and marks_. _It is found in several parts of Africa and India._ One mode of hunting these and some other species of antelope is by the hunting leopard and the ounce, but the most frequent mode of killing them is with guns. Their _skins_ are sometimes dressed with the hair on, and sometimes as leather; and the _flesh_ constitutes an excellent kind of venison. The _horns_ are convertible to nearly all the same purposes as the horns of the different kinds of deer; and they are also occasionally used as weapons. 88. _The COMMON GOAT_ (Capra ægagrus, Fig. 13) _is distinguished by having hollow, compressed, and rough horns, which grow first upright, and then bend backward._ _Both the male and female are horned._ _These animals are found wild in many of the mountainous countries of the European continent, of Africa, Persia, and India._