158 NATURAL HISTORY 



One thing is very remarkable as to the sheep : from the 

 westward till you get to the river Adur all the flocks have 

 horns, and smooth white faces, and white legs; and a hornless 

 sheep is rarely to be seen : but as soon as you pass that river 

 eastward, and mount Beeding-hill, all the flocks at once 

 become hornless, or, as they call them, poll-sheep ; and have 

 moreover black faces with a white tuft of wool on their fore- 

 heads, and speckled and spotted legs: so that you would think 

 that the flocks of Laban were pasturing on one side of the 

 stream, and the variegated breed of his son-in-law Jacob were 

 cantoned along on the other. And this diversity holds good 

 respectively on each side from the valley of Braniber and 

 Seeding to the eastward, and westward all the whole length of 

 the downs. If you talk with the shepherds on this subject, 

 they tell you that the case has been so from time immemorial: 

 and smile at your simplicity if you ask them whether the 

 situation of these two different breeds might not be reversed ? 

 However, an intelligent friend of mine near Chichester is 

 determined to try the experiment ; and has this autumn, at 

 the hazard of being laughed at, introduced a parcel of black- 

 faced hornless rams among his horned western ewes. The 

 black-faced poll-sheep have the shortest legs and the finest 

 wool. 



As I had hardly ever before travelled these downs at so late 

 a season of the year, I was determined to keep as" sharp a 

 look-out as possible so near the southern coast, with respect 

 to the summer short-winged birds of passage. We make 

 great inquiries concerning the withdrawing of the swallow 

 kind, without examining enough into the causes why this tribe 

 is never to be seen in winter; for, entre nous, the disappearing 

 of the latter is more marvellous than that of the former, and 

 much more unaccountable. The hirundines, if they please, 

 are certainly capable of migration; and yet no doubt are often 

 found in a torpid state : but redstarts, nightingales, white- 

 throats, black-caps, &c. &c. are very ill provided for long 

 flights ; have never been once found, as I ever heard of, in a 

 torpid state, and yet can never be supposed, in such troops, 

 from year to year to dodge and elude the eyes of the curious 



