THE SHEEP AND GOATS 



225 



THE BARBARY SHEEP, AOUDAD, 



OR ARUI 



This is a large wild sheep of 

 the North African highlands. The 

 old rams have a very fine appearance, 

 with a long flowing beard or mane, 

 and large horns. These wild sheep, 

 though somewhat goat-like in appear- 

 ance, are typical of their race in 

 general habits. They live in the 

 Atlas Range, and in the splendid 

 heights of the Aures Mountains, which 

 lie at the back of Algeria and fringe 

 the great Sahara Desert. In the 



o 



isolated and burning rocks which jut 



up in the desert itself into single 



mountains they are also found, living 



on ground which seems absolutely 



destitute of water, grass, or vegetation. 



They live singly or in small families ; 



but the rams keep mainly alone. 



Sometimes they lie in shallow caves 



during the heat of the day. These 



caves smell like a sheep-fold. More 



generally the sheep repose on some 



shelf of rock, where they exactly 



match the colour of the stone, and 



are invisible. The ground is among 



the most difficult in which any hunt- 

 ing is attempted, except perhaps in 



chamois stalking; but the pursuit seems to fascinate sportsmen. Mr. A. E. Pease recently 



gave some charming descrip- 

 tions of the silence, the rugged 

 rocks, and the astonishing 

 views over the great orange 

 Sahara Desert seen from the 

 tops of these haunts of the 

 Barbary sheep mountains on 

 the summits of which his Arab 

 guides would prostrate them- 

 selves in evening prayer as 

 the sun sank over the desert, 

 and then, rising, once more 

 resume the chase. The young 

 lambs of the Barbary sheep 

 are charming little creatures, 

 more like reddish kids. They 

 can follow the mother over the 

 steepest ground at a great 

 pace. When caught, as they 

 sometimes are by the Arabs, 



The fat tail of this sheep was considered by Charles Darwin as due to degeneration 

 29 



PhotobjJ.T. Newman-] \.B.rkhamst,d 



PUNJAB SHEEP 



This is an example of one of the breeds which carry no <woo> whatever 



Photo by Z. Midland, F.Z.S.'] 



FAT-TAILED SHEEP 



[North FinMtj 



they soon become tame. The 



