AND LOWER EGYPT. 249 



liave added, by himself. I resolved to dissemble ; 

 the Copht had influence in the country, and if I 

 could not depend upon the sincerity of his pro- 

 testations of devotedness aud service, I had rea- 

 son to fear that he might become a very dangerous 

 enemy. 



On repaying his visit I saw in his court-yard se- 

 veral sheep of Yemen, a species the body of which 

 is slender and very long, the head small in propor- 

 tion to the body, the forehead arched, the ears de- 

 pending, and the fleece rather short and silky down 

 than real wool. This sheep, though not precisely 

 the same as the adimain or great sheep of Senegal 

 and the Indies^ of which BufTon takes notice *, re- 

 sembles it in so many respects, that the slight dis- 

 tinctions which subsist between these two animals 

 appear to arise rather from local circumstances 

 than from a perpetual variety. Besides, these 

 sheep of Arabia do not form a part of the flocks of 

 Egypt ; those which 1 saw at Kous had been sent 

 to Poctor as curiosities. 



A country whose extent is entirely measured la- 

 titudinally, whose climate, soil, and even inhabit- 

 ants present sensible gradations, will naturally 

 contain productions modified by difference of si- 

 tuations. This impression, occasioned by a tem- 



* Natural Hhtory of Quadrupeds. Ovis Guineensis. Lin. 



perature 



