AFUiCAN SHEEP.] AND 'nlEIll VAKIOUS BKEEDS. [taiit.vuia:? siilep. 



their care of the anininln, than to those eorfH, 

 who arc indolent, and dull ol" oompn-lu'iision. 

 About four goats are associated with a lloek of 

 every hundred sheep to brave thcPontiuo hur- 

 ricanes, and to load the sheep over ravines, and 

 by the sides of steppes, which otiierwise neither 

 the sheep nor their shepherds would face. The 

 sheep follow the courageous goats ; and, on 

 onco making the eflort, they have powers quite 

 equal to the task. The sliephcrds aro strictly 

 nomadic. They wander from pasture to pas- 

 ture, accompanied by their dogs and a waggon, 

 which is their kitchen and bed. The sheep 

 are collected for the night into as narrow a 

 compass as possible. The dogs watch them, 

 each sleeping on a mat; and with this the 

 flock is generally secure from the wolves, who 

 prowl about in the hope of finding some stray 

 or sickly animal on some unguarded point. 

 This race of sheep has spread for a great dis- 

 tance over Hungary, Bohemia, and Austria. 

 The peasants still use the shaggy skins for 

 coats, which are an ample protection from the 

 cold blasts of the northern climate." The tail 

 is large and fat, almost more from its length than 

 its breadth — a characteristic in which it diflers 

 from the African sheep, to which we shall 

 now allude. 



AFRICAN SHEEP. 



In the specimens of Guinea sheep which we 

 have seen figured, the limbs are long, the body 

 gaunt, the ears pendulous, the forehead arched, 

 and two fleshy excrescences hang from the 

 throat. A smaller hair-clad breed extends 

 along the Slave Coast. The Fezzan sheep, of 

 which we have seen examples, closely resemble 

 the Guinea sheep, but have a pendulous dew- 

 lap instead of the tassels of skin on the throat. 

 They are gaunt, coarse-haired, ill-formed ani- 

 mals, with high withers like a buffalo. The 

 males have small horns. In Madagascar the 

 sheep are covered with short hair. The South 

 African sheep is of the fat-tailed species ; but 

 instead of the long, pendulous, and conical 

 tail, it is broad and flat. All other parts of 

 the body are wolf-like and lank, with the flesh 

 flabby and thin. The tail of this animal is the 

 great furnace which supplies it with heat 

 against the chill and rainy seasons, when 

 caloric is requisite to resist the cold effects of 

 the atmosphere. Barrow, in hia work on 



South Africa, says — " The tail is short, broad, 

 and flat ; naked on the under side, and weighs 

 the amazing weight of from six to twolvo 

 pounds. It is of a thin oily consistence, and 

 is sometimes used as a substitute for butter. 

 This tail is from twelve to eighteen inches 

 long, and tapers downwards, being five or six 

 inches thick near its setting-on at the rump." 

 The animal is covered with long curly hair, of 

 a powerfully resistive texture, which, from its 

 elasticity, is used for making cusliions. Tlio 

 wool varies from black to grey ; is often spotted, 

 and sometimes dun and brown. Little care is 

 taken of the breed, which furnish the Hottentot 

 witli a large proportion of his food. ^Nor is 

 Lheir covering more carefully preserved ; it 

 being usually allowed merely to drop off in 

 the autumn of the year. Some individuals 

 have a second or under coat, which has a groat 

 resemblance to fur, and is used for making 

 coverlets by the superior classes of Boers. A 

 similar sheep occurs in the same or higher 

 latitudes, and they are found in Madras and 

 Bengal. In Northern Africa there is an 

 animal similarly formed, especially in Barbary. 

 It has three, and sometimes four horns; but 

 its tail is thinner and fatter than the variety 

 of South African. Its colour is mostly white ; 

 and while the anterior parts are covered with 

 soft hair, the posterior are clothed with fine 

 wool. The ears are pendulous. 



THE TARTARIAN SHEEP. 

 In Tartary, Persia, and other parts of the 

 East, there has long existed a singular variety, 

 with a great deposit of fat on the tail and 

 creep, giving an unsightly appearance to the 

 animal. The tail itself is short, and seems 

 buried in the mass on each side ; and the body 

 is generally white; the head and neck bhick. 

 Of the variety Ovis Aries, var. Sleatopi/jus^ we 

 have seen a specimen. The fleece of the sheep 

 consisted of short, coarse wool, mixed with 

 hair. This sheep is hornless, and thin and 

 gaunt in its general contour. Its ears are 

 pendulous, and reach to the bottom of the 

 jaw. Its shoulders are thin and small; and 

 its head somewhat deep, but not forward. 

 Behind the shoulders it is small. The legs 

 are also short and thin, as regards the mus- 

 cular parts; but the whole vital power of the 

 animal seems to tend to the production of tho 



Cr'.j 



