The horns of the female ibex are weak and comparatively short--only some six or seven inches in length, not unlike those of the chamois, but not so sharply hooked. These do _not_ grow annually: hence there is not the ready index of age afforded by the horns of the rams. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to add that the horns of goats are _permanent_, and not cast yearly as is the case with deer.
The following are the maximum dimensions of the heads of male ibex, measured by the authors--all from the central and south-Spanish sierras.
Age. Length. Sweep. Circumference. 1. Five years 18-1/2 in. 11-1/2 in. 9-3/8 in. 2. Eight " 27-1/2 " 23 " 9 " 3. " " 28-1/4 " 19 " 8-3/4 " 4. " " 29 " 18-3/4 " 9 " 5. Aged 29 " 22-1/2 " 9-1/4 " 6. " 29-1/4 " 23-1/4 " 9-1/2 "
Through the kindness of the late Sir Victor Brooke, we are also enabled to give the following measurements of his three best Pyrenean ibex heads.
Length. Sweep. Circumference. A. 26 in. 21 in. 10 in. B. 29 " 23 " 10 " C. 31 " 26-1/2 " 8-3/4 "
Sir Victor Brooke wrote:--"A. This was a very grand _old_ ibex: but the points were broken and his horns rubbed smooth with age. The Pyrenean ibex are much larger beasts than those from the southern sierras."
The natural home of the ibex may be defined as exclusively amidst the summits of the wildest rock-mountains and most alpine spots upon earth--subject, however, to such, apparently accidental, variations of this general rule, as will be found hereinafter mentioned. Here their hollowed hoofs and marvellous agility enable them to traverse, at full speed, ice, crag, and precipice that seem absolutely impassable, and to mount rock-walls where no visible foothold exists, throwing into heart-breaking insignificance our puny efforts to encompass them. If a man's heart swells with the pride of strength--if he flatters himself that he is master of all the beasts of the field and of the arts of field-craft, let him try a campaign with the wild-goats--verily there is no sublunar undertaking better calculated to take the conceit out of him. Mere figures give but a poor idea: to say that the favourite haunts of ibex lie at altitudes of 8,000 to 10,000 feet, is hardly any real criterion of the difficulties and hardships of their pursuit. Suffice it here to say that the mere ascent to such heights occupies well-nigh a whole day: even when encamped among the fringe of the snow, the climb-out to the summits may still require two or three hours of the hardest work.
