Goats and Sheep.—­Goats are much more troublesome to drive than sheep, neither are they such enduring walkers, nor do they give as much meat; but their skins are of such great use to furnish strong leather, that it is seldom convenient to make up a caravan without them.  She-goats give some milk, even when travelling fast, and in dry countries; but a ewe-sheep is not worth milking under those circumstances, as her yield is a mere nothing.  Goats are very mischievous—­they make their way out of all enclosures, and trespass everywhere.  They butt at whatever is bright or new, or strange to them; and would drive an observer, who employed astronomical instruments on stands, to distraction.  In an open country, where there are no bushes for a kraal, nets must be taken, and stakes cut, to make enclosures for the sheep.  If they stray at all, the least thing scares them, and they will wander very far, and scatter.  Goats are far more social and intelligent.  If one, two, or three sheep only be driven, long thongs must be tied to their legs, and allowed to trail along the ground, by which they may be re-caught if they gallop off.  When the Messrs. Schlagintweit were encamped at vast heights, among the snows of the Himalaya, they always found it practicable to drive sheep to their stations.  When sheep, etc., are long hurdled at night, near the same encampment, the nuisance of flies and ticks becomes intolerable.  Sheep-dogs seem to prove of less use to travellers than might have been expected; perhaps the other dogs corrupt them.

Management of Cattle generally.—­To make an animal rise when he throws himself on the ground with his pack, and will not get up, it is not of much use to flog him; twisting or biting his tail is the usual way, or making a blaze with grass and a few sticks under his nostrils.  The stubborness of a half-broken ox is sometimes beyond conception.

Cattle Bells, in countries where they can be used without danger, should always be taken; it adds greatly to the cheerfulness and gregariousness of the animals—­mules positively require them.  Hard wood is sonorous enough for bells.

Brands and Cattle-marks.—­In buying oxen out of the herds of pastoral people, it is very difficult to remember each animal so as to recognise it again if it strays back to its former home; it requires quite a peculiar talent to do so.  Therefore it is advisable that the traveller’s cattle should be marked or branded.  A trader in Namaqua Land, took red paint, and tied a brush on to a long stick; with this he made a daub on the hind quarters of the freshly-bought and half-wild cattle, as they pushed through the door of his kraal.  It naturally excites great ridicule among natives, to paint an ox that he may be known again; but, for all that, I think the trader’s plan well worth adopting.  The same might be done to sheep, as a slit ear is not half conspicuous enough.  A good way of marking a sheep’s ear is to cut a wad out of the middle of it, with a gun-punch; but it will sometimes tear this hole into a slit, by scratching with its foot.