that there were but twelve persons on the island, and that the goats had
multiplied in such a manner as even to become a nuisance: they added,
that far from giving any trouble to capture them, they followed the few
inhabitants that were left with a sort of obstinacy, and became even
troublesome by their tameness. The celebrated traveller Dr. Clarke gives
a very curious account of a goat, which was trained to exhibit various
amusing feats of dexterity.

"We met, (says he,) an Arab with a goat which he led about the country
to exhibit, in order to gain a livelihood for itself and its owner. He
had taught this animal, while he accompanied its movements with a song,
to mount upon little cylindrical blocks of wood, placed successively one
above another, and in shape resembling the dice-box belonging to a
backgammon table. In this manner the goat stood, first, on the top of
two; afterwards, of three, four, five, and six, until it remained
balanced upon the summit of them all, elevated several feet above the
ground, and with its four feet collected upon a single point, without
throwing down the disjointed fabric on which it stood. The diameter of
the upper cylinder, on which its four feet alternately remained until
the Arab had ended his ditty, was only two inches, and the length of
each six inches. The most curious part of the performance occurred
afterwards; for the Arab, to convince us of the animal's attention to
the turn of the air, interrupted the _Da Capo_; and, as often as he did
this, the goat tottered, appeared uneasy, and, upon his becoming
suddenly silent, in the middle of his song, it fell to the ground.

[Illustration: THE ARAB AND HIS GOAT--Page 84.]

"Like the sheep, the goat possesses great natural affection for its
young. In its defence it boldly repels the attacks of the most