138 



IHE BEARDED ARGALI. 



Ovis tragelaphus. CAT us ? 

 PLATE XII. 



Tiagelaphus, Caws? Mouflon d'Afrique, Geoffroy^ Mem. 

 de ^Institute tfEyypte. The Bearded Argali, Hamilton 

 Smith. 



THERE is an uncertainty in the history of this 

 animal. The older writers, to whom we have re- 

 ferred in the synonyms, on the authority of Major 

 Smith, state it to be a very large animal, of a dark 

 colour, maned, and with lengthened hairs on the 

 dewlap ; but the sheep represented on the accom- 

 panying plate, supposed to be a variety, allowing 

 something 1 for age and exaggeration in the old de- 

 scribers, was discovered by the naturalists attached 

 to the Egyptian expedition on the mountains of that 

 country, and is figured in the great work on Egypt, 

 one of the most remarkable publications for its 

 splendour in existence. We have copied the figure, 

 and it is described in the following terms : 



" Under the general name of Mouflon, are in- 

 cluded all kinds of wild sheep ; and the term is like- 

 wise used with a more restricted application, to in- 



