FRANCE. 709 
Statistics. lished a decree, by which he intended and hoped.to flocks to the countries through which they pass, and Statistics. 
_ 
advised measure, the final blow was given'to the Me- 
rino breed. From that time they have been declining 
in France. In the exposé for the year 1814, it is as- 
serted that Bonaparte’s forced attempts to introduce the 
Merino breed of sheep, cost the government 200 mil- 
lions of francs; and that, after all, so far from succeed- 
ing, the breeds of native sheep were rather deterio- 
Sheep are kept in all of France, but principal- 
ly in Rousillon, Provence, Denghing, yea 
vergne, Guienne, Gascony, Bearn, Marche, Limosin, 
Poitou, Maine, Anjou, Brittany, Touraine, Cham 3 
Alsace, Franche Compté, Normandy, and French i- 
ders: In most of France, the sheep are shut up 
in stables at night, and sheltered from the sun at noon, 
during the summer. They are generally folded in the 
fields till November. . When the snow is deep, they are 
mom ee és fed on _ eet trees. On the whole, 
management of sheep is in France, especiall 
in keeping them too hot duri night in thee oases, 
sand too vetifined.in-theit: folds. he flocks are not 
— seldom reaching 400. j 
the mountains of the Cevennes, which run along 
the northern of the Lower or Eastern Languedoc, 
numerous are fed in the summer on the aromatic 
herbs with which they abound. During the: cold of 
Emigration the winter, they descend into the plains. But the most 
efsheep- extensive and singular emigration of sheep is that which 
takes anni , and as regularly as in Spain, from 
eaten Sondbden oft Rhonej:end. the desert 
of La Crau, to the mountains of Provence and Dauphi- 
ny, especially to the mountains of Gap and Barcelo- 
netta, and back again. The migration to the moun- 
tains takes place in May, whence they return again in 
October or November, and se earlier. The 
migration is not regulated by an er written laws, 
siecle anttaiad thagealinncatts limit their roads 
to five toises of breadth. If they do any damage be- 
The migration is conducted with all the order andregu- 
larity of the march of an army. The flocks belong to se- 
veral i who reside princi about the Crau, 
History of Provence, as well as other writers, calculates 
million. They travel in flocks of from 10,000 to 40,000, 
and are from meee: to thirty days on the journey. 
‘Among the that have the care of them, one 
-is chosen as chief during the season. He regulates 
every thing relative to the march, and is treasurer for 
the company ; all the money for the expences of the 
being lodged in his’ and he paying for 
sans wap bane! torr ape scene br AN or 
‘com; is i secretary. In his presence: all 
= etn pet and he enters them Jonmmediately 
in his book, The rest of the shepherds form a coun- 
lowed, each of whom has his, dog. «In. the centre:of 
the flock, a number of asses m , carryin the pro- 
visions and . . The chief also takes his station 
in the centre : issues the daily allowances of pro- 
‘visions, and transmits his orders, by his assistants, 
-this situation ; and if any irregularity is committed, he 
is found there to receive the complaint. He also ex- 
amines into any mischief which may be done by the 
—\~" cover France with fine-woolled flocks ; but, by this ill- pays the person who has received the injury: he next 
determines, whether it was occasioned by negligence or 
through accident: in the former case, the sum paid is 
levied on the offender; in the latter, it is taken from 
the common fund. 
Besides. the sheep, there are always a number of 
goats, which take the lead of the former. Some of the 
‘oldest he-goats have bells round their necks, The dis- 
—— in which these are kept, and the intelligence 
which they display, is remarkable. At the command 
of the shepherds, they either halt or proceed; and 
when the flocks rise in the morning, the moment these 
goats receive the order to proceed, they repair to their 
_ Stations in the foremost ranks with great regularity. 
If they come to a stream, they halt, till the word. of 
command is given, when they instantly plunge in and 
eross it, and are followed by the rest of the flock. 
When the flocks lie down at night, the shepherds and 
dogs still continue on the watch, relieving each other 
at stated intervals. When they arrive at the mountains, 
each shepherd has his particular district. allotted him 
by the chief. The feed is hired at the rate of 20 sous 
each sheep for six months; and the price for the win- 
ter feed in the Crau and. the Camargue is the same. 
During the whole time of their stay on the mountains, 
the —— live almost, entirely on bread and goat's 
milk, sleeping upon the ground. in the open air. 
The shepherds in France never inhabit a house: Shepher 
they go to the cottages in which their wives and fami- 
lies live, to take their meals, but sleep in their sheep- 
fold, in huts made of reeds and clay, upon a mat spread 
on the ground: these huts are placed on wheels. . The 
wages of the shepherds are in general high; and they © 
are a superior class of men, in all r to what they 
are in England, . The w: of the chief shepherd are 
about L.12 sterling: besides this, he is allowed a cer- 
tain sum, often three francs per head, for every sheep 
sold ; his board at one and a half francs a day ; anda 
cottage, rent free, for his family. The wages of the 
inferior shepherd is about L.8 sterling ; and he has.the 
same allowance for board as the chief shepherd. 
The Pyrenees. breed of shepherd dogs are particu shepherds 
larly celebrated. They are black and white, of the size dogs. 
of a large wolf, a large head and neck, armed with 
collars, stuck with iron spikes, so that-no wolf can at- 
tack them. But bears are more potent adversaries. If 
a bear can reach a tree, he is safe: he rises on his hind 
legs, with his back to the tree, and sets the dog at de- 
fiance. These dogs are fed entirely on bread and milk. 
In most parts of France, when it 1s necessary to catch 
a sheep, for the pu of examining it, the shepherd 
orders his dog to pa the flock round his master, 
which he does by going round them in avcircle, gra- 
dually decreasing, till the shepherd takes any one he 
wants, 
The average weight of the fleeces of the native sheep Wool. 
of France is about 24 or 3 lib. ; that of the. Merinos 
about 6 lib. The wool of the former, in general, is of 
an indifferent quality. The wool of Rousillon is the 
finest; that of Narbonne jis nearly as fine, but more 
ottony, and of a shorter staple. The wool of Bezieres 
is; next in quality ; that of Pesenas, in Languedoc, 
son the side of Montagnac, is somewhat less fine. The 
wool of the sea-coast is heavy and coarse: the wools of 
the mountains of Montpellier and De Somieres are of 
three sorts ;. the first. equal to the wool of Pesenas, the 
second less fine, the third very coarse. The wool of 
Berry is fine; that of Rheims inferior. The number 
