The five great monarchies of the ancient eastern world; or, The history, geography, and antiquites of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, and Persia . r, and in the Sinjar.^It has occasionally that remarkable peculiarity—socommonly represented on the sculptures—a shorthorny claw at the extremity of the tail in the middleof the ordinary tuft of hair.^ The ibex or wild?goat—also a favourite subject with the Assyriansculptors—is frequent in Kurdistan, and moreoverabounds on the highest ridges of the Abd-el-Azizand the Sinjar, where it is approached with difficultyby the hunter.^ The gazelle, wild-
The five great monarchies of the ancient eastern world; or, The history, geography, and antiquites of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, and Persia . r, and in the Sinjar.^It has occasionally that remarkable peculiarity—socommonly represented on the sculptures—a shorthorny claw at the extremity of the tail in the middleof the ordinary tuft of hair.^ The ibex or wild?goat—also a favourite subject with the Assyriansculptors—is frequent in Kurdistan, and moreoverabounds on the highest ridges of the Abd-el-Azizand the Sinjar, where it is approached with difficultyby the hunter.^ The gazelle, wild-boar, wolf, jackal,fox, badger, porcupine, and hare, are common in theplains, and confined to no particular locality. Bearsand deer are found on the skirts of the Kurdish hills. ^ Layard, Nm. and its Remains,vol. ii. p. 48. ^ Ibid. c, note. For its fre-(picncy in old times see 7. 2 Layard, pp. 428, 429. ^ Layard, Nineveh and its Be-mains, p. 431. Compare Nin. andBab. pp. 256 and 312. Chap. U. THE LION AND THE IBEX. 279 The leopard, hysena, lynx, and beaver are com-paratively rare. The last-named animal, very im-. Ibex, or Wild-Goat, from IWiirud. common in Southern Asia, was at one time found inlarge numbers on the Khabour; but in consequenceof the value set upon its musk bag, it has beenhunted almost to extermination, and is now veryseldom seen. The Khabour beavers are said to be adifferent species from the American. Their tail isnot large and broad, but sharp and pointed; nor dothey build houses, or construct dams across thestream, but live in the banks, making themselveslarge chambers above the ordinary level of thefloods, which are entered by holes beneath thewater-line.* The rarest of all the animals which are still foundin Assyria, is the wild ass {Equus hemionus). Tillthe present generation of travellers, it was believed •* Nin. and Bab. pp. 296, 297. Beavers are also found in tlie Zohabriver, a tributary of the Dijaleh. 280 THE SECOND MON
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