372 



M A M MALI A— S H E E P. 



what like a worm. The horns of the female are short, and first turn round 

 backwards, then bend down, and turn round before, so much, that they end 

 near the eyes ; and in some their circumference and direction vary. The 

 male and female goat of Angora, which we have seen, are such as we* have 



described. These goats, like all the animals of Syria, have the hair very 

 long and thick, and so fine that stuffs have been made of it, almost as 

 handsome and glossy as our silks. It is, in fact, what is commonly termed 

 mohair. The stuffs made from the hair of this goat are known by the name 

 of camlet. 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP 1 



Inhabit the lofty chain of mountains from whence they derive their name ; 

 from its northern termination in latitude sixty-eight, to about latitude forty 

 degrees, and most likely still further south. They also frequent the elevated 

 and craggy ridges with which the country between the great mountain 

 r.\r\q;e and the Pacific is intersected; but they do not appear to have advanced 

 further to the eastward than to the declivity of the Rocky Mountains, nor are 

 : found in any of the hilly tracts nearer to Hudson's Bay. They collect 

 in flocks, consisting of from three to thirty, the young rams and females 

 herding together during the winter and spring, while the old rams form 

 separate flocks. The ewes bring forth in June or July, and then retire with 



1 Ovis montana, Geoff. The genus Ovis has eight lower incisors ; no canines ; 

 twelve upper and twelve lower molars. Horns common to both sexes; sometimes want- 

 ing in the female, thick, angular, wrinkled transversely, pale colored, turned laterally in 

 a spiral form; ears small; legs slender; hair of two kinds; tail more or less short; two 

 mammjE. 



