SHEEP. 



671 



they are covered with longer and very fine wool ; 

 but they all have the very long tails and the pendent 

 ears which are so characteristic of this one. 



In Southern Africa there are many breeds of sheep 

 which have been introduced by the colonists, and 

 farther multiplied by crossing. Besides all those 

 which are really sheep, the sailors call the albatross 

 the " Cape sheep," because, when on the water, the 

 size and colour of these birds have some fancied re- 

 semblance to those of sheep. There is, however, 

 one Cape sheep which deserves the name, as being a 

 native of the Cape colony. This species is 



THE HOTTENTOT SHEEP, or BROAD-TAILED SHEEP. 

 These sheep get their common English appellation 

 from the enlargement of the tail, which is not, how- 

 ever, in the organ itself, but in an accumulation of fat 

 upon the sides. This fat is of the same curdy nature 

 as that in the goitre and occiputal lump of the Angola 

 sheep, and it is of course intended by nature to 

 answer a similar purpose ; but it is not a little singu- 

 lar that of two varieties of sheep, both inhabiting the 

 same quarter of the world, the one should accumulate 

 this store of fat on the head, and the other on the tail. 

 It is, of course, of no great importance upon what 

 part of the body of the animal this store of fat is 

 accumulated, as the absorption of it, when required, 

 can as easily be made at one part as another ; but 

 still there must be a cause for this difference, just as 

 there is for the fat of some animals being outward, 

 that of others inward, and that of others still distri- 

 buted through the body. 



The broad-tailed sheep of the Cape may be con- 

 sidered as an eastern race, in opposition to the sheep 

 of Guinea as western races. It is smaller than the 

 common sheep, and rather a handsome animal. The 

 females never have horns, and the males are not 

 unfrequently without them. The tail is long, though 

 not so long in proportion as in the sheep of the west 

 of Africa, and it terminates in a thin point, which is 

 slightly turned outwards. The accumulation of fat 

 lies on the outer side, where it increases the thickness 

 of the tail more than it does the breadth. Its cover- 

 ing is not so properly wool as short white hair, which 

 is pretty uniform over the body ; but a patch over 

 the eyes, the tips of the ears, and some parts of the 

 lesrs, tawny. As found in southern Africa, these 

 sheep are very delicate animals ; and when taken on 

 board ships, they waste away if the weather is severe. 

 This appears to be the parent race of the sheep in 

 a very extensive range of country, namely, from the 

 Cape of Good Hope northward, through Africa, and 

 so through Asia, to the extreme north-east of China 

 and the borders of Silesia. It is natural to suppose 

 that, in so extensive a range, there should be manv 

 climatal varieties -, and as these meet with the sheep 

 of other places on the confines, and all sheep appear 

 to have fertile progeny, how much soever the breed 

 may be crossed, it is natural to conclude that, there 

 should be many mixed varieties arising from this cause. 

 Mention is made of some at the Cape which are of 

 larger size than the Hottentot sheep, and which 

 blend the characters of these with those of the sheep 

 of Guinea. This has the head of a black colour ; the 

 horns are longer, and the fat on the tail forms two 

 lateral lobes, which, like that on (he other, have the 

 under side of the lobes quite free from hair. 



From the peculiar zone of the earth over which it 

 extends, and which includes nearly the largest line 

 that can be drawn wholly upon land, these must 



have, in the course of time, been the sheep of many 

 races of men, and have been subjected to many 

 changes in the altering states of their country ; for 

 there is no doubt that, within the period of human 

 history, many thousands of miles of that country have 

 passed through every gradation from the most fertile 

 to the most irreclaimable desert. There is, of course, 

 nothing in the present character of the sheep which 

 can throw, or tend to throw, the smallest light upon 

 the history of the countries ; but, at the same time, 

 they are not a bad artificial memory of the facts, if 

 the history is once known. In the north-east of 

 Afiica there is a variety of the broad-tailed sheep 

 which deserve the name more than that of the Cape, 

 for the tail is so wide at the basal part that it extends 

 completely over the buttocks. It has the line of the 

 forehead nearly straight, the horns not unlike those 

 of the Argoli, the wool very coarse, and the coloured 

 parts of a deeper shade than in the Cape sheep, 

 though they are marked in nearly the same manner. 

 Another variety, found in northern Africa, and also 

 in some of the rocky isles of the Mediterranean, has 

 often more than two horns ; their ears are slouched, 

 the tail not enlarged, and the colour generally, but 

 not in all cases, white. Several experiments which 

 have been made show that, when the sheep of the 

 warm countries, which are there covered with short 

 hair, are brought into cold countries, they acquire the 

 woolly coat of the ordinary sheep of those countries 

 even at the beginning of the winter. They at the 

 same time retain the agility in leaping which is cha- 

 racteristic of the sheep of the southern mountains, 

 which are riot encumbered either by a heavy fleece 

 or by fat distributed over the bod}'. 



In Asia there are very many varieties of sheep, 

 the greater part of them having more or less analogy 

 to the broad-tailed race already mentioned. They 

 are generally named after the countries in which 

 they are found ; and, as they often ^differ very little 

 from each other, some confusion is produced by the 

 same species or variety being obtained from different 

 places, and called by different names. 



One of the most celebrated of these breeds is that 

 which is called the Astrachan, not of course from its 

 inhabiting that city or even that province, but because 

 Astrachan is the centre of the trade in the skins. 

 Their furs are well known in all the countries of 

 Europe in svhich furs are used ; and vast numbers of 

 them are sent to China by the caravans which tra- 

 verse Siberia. These furs are called Siberian lamb- 

 skins, Crimea furs, and other names. They are usu- 

 ally of a grey colour, produced by the mixture of 

 black and white, and they are closely and very pret- 

 tily curled. Some are quite black, and they fetch 

 a very high price, though the fur can be dyed as 

 other wools can ; but then a dyed fur is a very in- 

 ferior article both in appearance and in quality. The 

 dye takes off the gloss of the fur, and at the same 

 time weakens it very much, and loosens its adhesion 

 to the skin. These furs are obtained at a great 

 sacrifice of the value of the sheep, and also by the 

 practice of what seems very revolting cruelty. They 

 are the skins of the lambs taken from the uteri of the 

 mothers just a few days before the time that they 

 would be dropped in the ordinary course of nature. 

 If the lamb is ever dropped, and left to dry in the 

 atmosphere, the beautiful curl of the fur, in a great 

 measure, goes off; and when the animal reaches its 

 full size the character of the skin changes still more 



