388 THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 



of the whole, drawing up into a compact body, and 

 presenting to every quarter an armed front, which 

 cannot, be attacked without the most serious danger to 

 tne assailant. It has also been observed, that few 

 quadrupeds evince greater sagacity than the sheep in 

 the selection of its food ; and its acuteness of percep- 

 tion in regard to the approach of a storm is no less 

 remarkable. 



The varieties of this useful animal are so various, 

 that no two countries produce sheep of the same kind, 

 an obvious difference subsisting in every breed, either 

 in the size, the shape, the fleece, or the horns 



No country produces finer sheep than Great Britain. 

 The improved Leicestershire breed is held in the 

 greatest esteem in most parts of the kingdom, and al- 

 most all the principal breeders endeavour to introduce 

 some mixture of it into their stock. The Lincolnshire 

 breed are of a large size, and their fleeces, in point 

 of weight and utility, greatly exceed those of Spain, 

 owing to the rich luxuriant marshes on which they 

 feed ; but their flesh is coarse, lean, and not so finely 

 flavoured as that of smaller sheep. The Dorsetshire 

 sheep are, for the most part, white-faced, with long, 

 slender legs, and scanty fleeces ; their flesh is sweet 

 and well-flavoured, and some varieties of the breed are 

 diff'ased through most of the southern countries. The 

 largest breed of English sheep, however, are to be 

 found on the banks of the Icis, which runs through a 

 fertile tract of country, dividing the counties of Durham 

 and Yorkshire. The Shetland sheep are generally 

 destitute of horns, and peculiarly distinguished by the 

 shortness of their tails. 



In the mountainous parts of Wales, where the sheep 

 enjoy so great a share of liberty as to render them very 

 wild, they do not alwavs collect into large flocks, but 



