[127] 



September the sheep commence their journeys towards the 

 lower plains, their itineraries being marked out by imme- 

 morial custom, and are as well regulated as a march of 

 troops. Each tribe is usually led by six tame wethers, 

 called ' mausos/ which are obedient to the voices of the 

 shepherds, who frequently give them small pieces of bread 

 to encourage them along. The sheep feed freely in all the 

 wilds and commons through which they pass, and often the 

 poor creatures travel fifteen or twenty miles a day through 

 the crowded lanes to get into the open wilds, where the 

 shepherd walks slow to let them feed at ease and rest ; but 

 they never stop, have no day of repose, and march two or 

 three leagues a day, ever following the shepherd, always 

 feeding or seeking with their heads toward the ground, till 

 they arrive at their journey's end. The chief shepherd is 

 cautious to see that each tribe is conducted to the same dis- 

 trict in which it fed the winter before, and where the sheep 

 were yeaned, for it is thought to prevent a variation in the 

 wool, though, indeed, this requires but little care, as it is a 

 notorious truth that the sheep would go to that very spot of 

 their own accord, although the distance is sometimes full 

 one hundred and fifty leagues, which cannot be traveled in 

 much less than forty days. 



" The first thing to be done after the sheep return to their 

 winter plains, is to prepare the ' toils' in which they are to 

 pass their nights, lest they should stray away and fall into 

 the jaws of the wolves. The 'rediles/ or toils, consist of 

 enclosures of net-work, with meshes a foot in width, and of 

 the thickness of the finger, made of a species of rush called 

 4 esparto' (Lygeum Spartum.) This plant is also much used 

 in the south of France and Spain ior making ropes, mats, 

 baskets, etc., and was also employed for similar purposes by 

 the ancient Romans. 



" Yeaning and Management of the Lambs. About the end 

 of December the ewes begin to bring forth their young, 

 which is the most toilsome and the most solicitous period of 



