THE SHEEP. 



Hunting the Musmon. 



Of all our domestic animals, 

 the SJ»eep is that of which we 

 have the earliest notice ; for, in 

 Holy Writ we are told that Abel, 

 the son of the first man, " was a 

 keeper of sheep." Next to the 

 cow, perhaps, it is the most use- 

 ful to us. Its flesh is one of our 

 most common and nutricious arti- 

 cles of food; and its wool fur- 

 nishes us with warm winter 

 clothing. Their fleece, however, 

 accommodates itself wonderfully 

 to climate ; the thick wool which 

 gives warmth to the Sheep of 

 cold and temperate latitudes, 

 being supplanted by a coat of 

 hair less oppressive when they 

 are carried to hot countries. Its manners are gentle, and its disposition timid. In eastern countries, where 

 they are regulated by the call, the Sheep knows and can discern the voice of its shepherd, and a stranger's 

 voice they will not follow. On the Alps, and in some provinces of France, they are guided by the sound 

 of the pipe ; and when called at sunset to be penned for the evening, to preserve them from the wolf, they 

 readily follow the Arcadian strain. 



The Musmon, of Corsica, is now believed to be the original stock from whence most of the European 

 breeds of Sheep have sprung. It still exists wild on the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia. They are 

 about the ordinary size of Sheep, and breed with the domestic races. The horns of the male, (the female 

 is without,) are large, long, and triangular, bending backward like a half circle. The body is large and 

 muscular, the tail short, and bare on the inside ; the legs are pretty long and the hoofs short. The color 

 of the body is a yellow chesnut; the head ash-grey, whitish on the muzzle and about the eyes; the belly, 

 inside of the thighs, and tip of the tail is white, the fleece owes its tints to the long hair, which exceeds 

 the wool. They wander in flocks of about a hundred, led by some old and courageous male. Their habits 

 are like those of our own sheep, docile and gentle, though sometimes a churlish old ram will butt down a 

 child, a woman or a man, who may happen to stand in his road. 



The Ovis Amnion, or Siberian Argali, is a native of 

 Siberia, but is also met with in the wilds of Tartary. It is 

 the parent stock of the Asiatic breeds of Sheep. It is a 

 large animal ; some stand three feet high at the shoulder, 

 and weigh not less than two hundred pounds. Their horns 

 are of immense size, weighing thirty pounds, and extending 

 backward four feet. 





The Musmon. 



An Argali. 



nafii 



