180 THE STORY OF THE WILD SHEEP. 



to which they can retreat when followed by dogs or wolves. They are 

 accustomed to pay daily visits to certain caves in the slaty rocks that are 

 encrusted with a salty growth, of which they are fond. The flesh of this 

 sheep is quite delicious when it is in season. 



Although the "big horn" was numerous throughout an immense region 

 a few decades ago, the advance of the white man has served to diminish 

 their numbers, and, like the buffalo, the animal will soon be extinct unless 

 the Government gives it protection. These sheep have been seen on the 

 summits of the highest peaks in the United States, and their agility in 

 crossing crags and glaciers is marvelous. 



I shot a ram in Wyoming several years ago which stood four feet in 

 lieight at the withers, weighed over four hundred pounds, and whose horns, 

 measured along the curve, were forty-two' inches in length. The ewes stand 

 about three feet in height. 



The magnificent wild sheep of Mongolia is known as the argali, and is 

 as large as a full grown donkey. A closely allied species is found in Thibet. 

 Both of these have many points of similarity with the '*big horn." 



The Pamir sheep takes its name from inhabiting the elevated district 

 in Central Asia known as the Pamirs, or "Roof of the World." It is also 

 found on the table-lands to the westward and northward of Eastern 

 Turkestan. 



The Pamir sheep, although furnished with longer horns, does not appear 

 to attain quite such large dimensions as the Thibetan argali, from which it 

 is mainly distinguished by the form of the horns, and also by color. In the 

 male the horns, when viewed from the side, are seen to form a spiral of 

 about a circle and a quarter; and when adult they are much longer than 

 those of the argali, but are less massive at the base. In fine specimens I 

 measured, the horns attained a length of from sixty to seventy inches along 

 the curve, with a girth at the base of about fifteen inches. One specimen had 

 the remarkable length of eighty-two inches, with a girth of eighteen inches. 



The European member of this family is known as the mouflon, and 

 formerly was found in all parts of continental Europe. In recent years the 

 animal has become extinct except in Sardinia and Corsica. The mouflon 

 is much smaller than the other species, rarely measuring more than thirty 

 inches at the withers. 



In Sardinia the mouflon, instead of being found on all the mountain 

 ranges, are restricted to certain chains, and there they frequent only the 

 highest ridges, generally confining themselves to such peaks as command 



