ANIMAL INDUSTRY 43 1 



flocks, no special efforts have yet been made to improve them. 



In the Portuguese territories, according to Da Costa (1933), 

 native sheep are of two kinds, each with a distinct origin. The 

 Mondombes variety, which is said to be akin to an Eastern breed, 

 Ovis aries asiatica, occurs on the coast of Angola, to the south 

 of Benguela. They have short hair, and the rams, owing to a divi- 

 sion at the base of each horn, appear to have four instead of two 

 horns. The majority of native sheep belong to the second group 

 and are representatives of Ovis aries sudanica; they are generally 

 without horns and have long hair behind. 



In Angola attention is directed to wool and mutton. For wool 

 Wanganellas and Portuguese merinos were first imported, but 

 good results have been attained only with the latter, which have 

 been improved in the colony with the Rambouillet and the early 

 merino of French origin. Crossing with native stock has been suc- 

 cessful in the highland districts. For meat production, improve- 

 ments have been made with the Persian black-headed sheep of 

 South African origin. 



In most native areas of Africa goats are more numerous than any 

 other domestic animal. By European farmers they are generally 

 regarded as unprofitable, but to the native they are undoubtedly 

 valuable as a source of meat and some races are used for milking. 

 They are also essential for the payment of bride-price, particularly 

 amxong the Kikuyu. In many parts of the continent goat skins are 

 of high value, and are exported in considerable quantities, {see 

 page 454). In many tsetse areas goats survive in small numbers 

 where cattle fail to do so. It appears that some local races have 

 developed a resistance almost amounting to immunity, but more 

 frequently the occurrence of small flocks of goats in country lightly 

 infected by fly is explained by the fact that their small size and 

 their habits render them less liable than cattle to attack by flies. 

 Also, they breed faster, so that depletion by disease is made good 

 more quickly. It appears that goats in general are somewhat less 

 susceptible to infection from Trypanosoma congolense and T. vivax 

 than cattle, but more susceptible to T. brucei. The capacity of some 

 goats to resist or avoid trypanosomiasis, their alleged immunity to 

 that growing scourge in Africa — tuberculosis, and their astonish- 

 ing ability to obtain food in difficult conditions, perhaps renders 



