GOBI
776
GODWIN
GOAT OF CASHMERE
inally were mountain animals. They are found now in Asia and southern Europe. Those of Asia Minor are either solitary or in herds of 30 or more. The female has no beard and shorter horns — being about a foot long — while those of the male reach a length of three or four feet. The original stock of the tamed goats is uncertain. It is likely that they came from the Persian goat or Paseng, but some naturalists think that the wild goats of Tibet and Cashmere come closer to the tame ones. The Angora goat (see illustration), originally of Asia Minor, has long spiral horns and abundant silky hair. Its fleece, called mohair, is in great demand, and the animal is regarded as of high value in various ways. The raising of Angora goats has recently risen to quite an industry in this country on the Pacific coast, and interesting experiments have been made in some of the states of the middle west. There are many breeds of the domestic goat raised for their milk,flesh, skin and wool. The goat of Cashmere and Tibet supplies exceedingly fine wool, used in making Cashmere shawls and other fabrics. Other common varieties of wool-bearing goats are the Nubian and Maltese. The hides of young kids are extensively used for gloves, though much of the so-called kid-leather is an imitation, made from the skins of rats, dogs, etc. See Pegler's Book of the Goat and Farmer's Bulletin No. 137, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Gobi (gd'be'}, Desert of, or Shamo, in China, is a dry area of plateau lying between the Khingan and Sin-Kiany Mountains. It thus covers a great part of Mongolia. Across this desert lies the great caravan-route between China and Siberia (see CARAVANS). The population consists of nomadic Tartar and Mongol tribes, who pasture their sheep, horses and camels upon the scattered herbage which the desert affords. At times, when rain has recently fallen, this desert takes on an air of great fertility and beauty, being speedily covered with long grass and flowers.
Godavari (go-da'va-re), a holy river, one of the principal streams of India and the largest in the Deccan, rises near the Indian Ocean and flows 898 miles into the Bay of Bengal, which it enters by seven mouths. The beautiful scenery has won it the name of the Indian Rhine. From it branch three canals, irrigating over 528 miles of channel and all along its lower course making the country one of great richness and fertility.
Goderich. In Ontario, a town of 5,000, the most important port on Lake Huron. It is the terminus of the Buffalo and Lake Huron Division of the Grand Trunk Railway. It has extensive salt-works, soap-works and flour-mills. Its trade in fish is considerable. A very popular summer resort.
Godfrey of Bouillon (bo-ydn*), a crusader and Christian knight, was born at Baisy, Belgian Brabant, about 1061. He served with great credit under Henry IV of Germany in two of his campaigns. He joined the first crusade and was elected one of the principal commanders. A few days after the capture of the Holy City, he was proclaimed king by the army, but refused to wear a crown where his Savior had worn thorns, and took the title of Defender and Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1099 ne defeated the sultan of Egypt on the plain of Ascalon, thus gaining possession of almost the whole of Palestine; but after a year he died at Jerusalem on July 18, noo.
Godiva (gd-difvd}> Lady. See COVENTRY.
God Save the King. Commonly ascribed to Henry Carey, who first sang the anthem on a public occasion in 1740. Carey's claim to the authorship of this piece has never been satisfactorily established. But see Dr. W. H. Cummings' book, God Save the King, London, 1893, f°r latest investigations. During the Scottish Rebellion, in 1745, it was publicly sung at the theaters and became well-known. In October of the same year both words and music were printed in The Gentlemen's Magazine. The tune has some resemblance to an air of Dr. John Bull's, dated 1619; to a Scotch carol, 1611; to a ballad, Franklin is Fled Away, 1669; to a Lesson of Henry Purcell's, 1696; to an old anthem, sung at St. James (Catholic) Chapel; and to other compositions less known. In Denmark the tune has been used for the national song, Heil dir im Sieger Kranz! Both words and music have been adopted by Prussia and Germany for the same purpose. The tune has been used by Weber in a cantata and in his Jubel Overture; by Beethoven in his Battle-Symphony and for a set of piano variations; by Attwood in the coronation anthem of George IV; and by Rink in his Organ-School. See AMERICA.
Goethals (go'-thalz'}*. Colonel George W., Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal (g. v.) was born in Brooklyn, June 29, 1858. He graduated from West Point in 1884, and later from the engineering school of Willet's Point, New York. Before being appointed to the position in which he won international fame as an engineer and civil administrator in the Canal Zone, he had shown his fitness for his great task in the conduct of engineering work for the War Department in various undertakings, including the construction of
^Commonly pronounced gutalz. Colonel Goethals states the correct pronunciation is as here given.
