364 Improvcmrnt and Progress of the Breed of 



The &}iccimcns of wool that captahi M* Arthur has with 

 him, have been inspected by thebest judges ot" wool in thi» 

 kingdom ; and they are of opinion that it possesses a soft- 

 nci>s superior to many of the wools of Spain, and that 

 it certainly is equal in every valuable property to the very 

 be&t that is to be obtained from thence. 



The sheep producing this fine wool are of the Spanish 

 kind, sent originally from Holland to the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and taken from thence to Port Jackson. 



Captain jNl'Arthury being persuaded that the propagation 

 of those animals would be of the utmost consequence to 

 this country, procured in 1797 three rams and five ewes; 

 and he has since had the satisfaction to see them rapidly 

 increase, their fleeces augment in weight, and the wool very 

 visibly improve in quahtv. When captain M'Avthur left 

 Port Jackson in 1801, the heaviest fleece that had then been 

 shorn wciglied only three pounds and a half: but he has 

 received reports of 1802, from which he learns that the 

 fleeces of his sheep were increased to five pounds each, and 

 that the wool is finer and softer than the wool of the pre- 

 ceding year. The fleece of one of the sheep originally im- 

 ported from the Cape of Good Hope has been valued here 

 at four shillings and sixpence per pound, and a fleece of 

 the same ki,nd bred in New South Wales is estimated at 

 six shvlUugs per pound. 



Being once in possession of this valuable breed, and hav- 

 ms: aacertaincd that they improved in that climate, he be- 

 came anxious to extend them as much as possible; he 

 therefore crossctl all the mixed bred ewes, of which his. 

 ilocks were composed, with Spanish rams. The lambs 

 producctl' from this cross were much improved j but, whei> 

 thcv were again crossed, the change far exceeded his most 

 sanguine expectations. In four crosses, he is of opinion, 

 no distinction will be perceptible between the pure and 

 tlie mixed breed. As a proof of the extraordinary and 

 ^^pid improvement of his flocks, capfain M'Arthur has 

 txhiUited the fleece of a coarse-woolled ewe that has been 

 vnKicd 3i ninepence a pound ; and tlie fleece of her lamb, 

 begotten bv a Spanisli ram, which is allowed to be worth 

 three shillings a pound. 



• Captain M'Artliur has now aljovt four thousand sheep, 

 ani()n<'>t which tlivrc are no rams but of the Spanish breed. 

 I ie calculates that thev w ill, with proper care, double thcm- 

 scives e\erv two years and a half; and that in twenty years 

 thev will be so inerrased as to produce as niuch line wool 

 as is now imported fruu\ Spain and other countries at an 

 , . annual 



