TDith (mountain gfyttp 



do not alight on their horns, this story is still 

 in circulation and is too widely believed. Every 

 one with whom I have talked who has seen 

 sheep land after a leap says that the sheep land 

 upon their feet. I have seen this performance 

 a number of times, and on a few occasions there 

 were several sheep ; and each and all came down 

 feet first. Incidentally I have seen two rams 

 come down a precipice and strike on their horns; 

 but they did not rise again ! The small horns of 

 the ewes would offer no shock-breaking resist- 

 ance if alighted upon; yet the ewes rival the 

 rams in making precipitous plunges. 



The sheep is the only animal that has cir- 

 cling horns. In rams these rise from the top of 

 the head and grow upward, outward, and back- 

 ward, then curve downward and forward. Com- 

 monly the circle is complete in four or five 

 years. This circular tendency varies with 

 locality. In mature rams the horns are from 

 twenty to forty inches long, measured round 

 the curve, and have a basic circumference of 

 twelve to eighteen inches. The largest horn I 

 ever measured was at the base nineteen and a 



29 



