54} COURAGE OF SHEEP. 



tremor of her voice shows the perturbation she suffers. 

 Sometimes she expresses her woes in a long, melan- 

 choly tone ; at other times, her bleat is a wild, inar- 

 ticulate strain, expressive of her anguish. There are 

 few creatures/' continued she, " that defend their 

 young with more warmth, as long as they are able, 

 than the sheep ; though, at other times, they are re- 

 markable for the meekness of their spirit. When we 

 put them to their mothers again after weaning, each 

 sheep knows her own lamb, and ever after associates 

 with it." 



Upon this, I inquired how it was possible she could 

 know that the lambs were recognised by their mothers : 

 for to me all sheep have the same countenances. " So 

 far from that," replied the farmer's wife, " the shep- 

 herds know every sheep of the flock ^; and my husband 

 remembers an instance of a man being hanged for 

 sheep-stealing, at Bury St. Edmund's, on the oath of 

 the prosecutor, who swore to the countenance of the 

 sheep." We all agreed that we should be sorry to de- 

 prive a fellow-creature of life on a circumstance that 

 appeared to us so uncertain ; yet it was admitted as 

 sufficient e\adence in a court of justice. Rachel re- 

 marked, that though the innocent and gentle disposi- 

 tion of the sheep rendered it an amiable animal, she 

 thought it had but little intelligence or attachment. 

 The farmer's wife said that they were not so deficient 



