380 ARGALI. 



all the kinds of domestic Sheep have proceeded ; 

 many of which differ full as widely both from 

 each other and their archetype as the Goats. 



The Argali, or Wild Sheep, is an inhabitant of 

 rocky or mountainous regions, and is chiefly 

 found in the Alpine parts of Asia. It was ob- 

 served by Dr. Pallas throughout the vast chain of 

 mountains extending through the middle of that 

 continent to the Eastern Sea. In Kamtschatka 

 it is plentiful : it occurs also in Barbary, in the 

 mountains of Greece, and in the islands of Cor- 

 sica and Sardinia ; differing merely in a few slight 

 particulars of colour and size, according to its 

 climate. 



The general size of the Argali is that of a small 

 Fallow Deer. Its colour is a greyish ferruginous 

 brown above, and whitish beneath : the face is 

 also whitish, and behind each shoulder is often 

 observed a dusky spot or patch : the legs, at least 

 in the European kind, are commonly white : the 

 head strongly resembles that of a Ram ; but the 

 ears are smaller in proportion : the neck more 

 slender ; the body large ; the limbs slender, but 

 strong ; the tail very short, being hardly more 

 than three inches in length : the horns, in the 

 full-grown or old animals, are extremely large, 

 placed on the top of the head, and stand close at 

 their base, rising first upwards, and then bending 

 down, and twisting outwards, as in the common 

 Ham : the body is covered \vith hair instead of 

 wool ; in which particular consists its chief dif- 

 ference from the general aspect of a Sheep ; but in 



